History of the Slavery Trade

1202 Words3 Pages

Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be sold and bought and are forced to do labor. This practice has been around since the very beginning of civilization. This dates back almost 11,000 years ago during the Code of Hammurabi. People are sentenced to slavery due to debt, prisoners of war, punishment for crime, child abandonment, and the birth into slavery. Slavery has been found to be present in various countries throughout history such as Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia. The purpose of slavery was to earn money without having to do all the work. This left people more time to do things they wanted rather than committing their time to work that they do not want to do. The slave trade was invented when colonies were developed and slavery became more evident.
Slavery was practiced for many centuries before the Atlantic slave trade began. The slave trade was the transporting and selling of slaves between the old world and the new world. This took place from the 16th century through the 19th century. The Atlantic slave trade is also known as the triangular trade because of the triangle the ships made through their journey from Africa, to the Americas, and finally to Europe. Journeys could last anywhere between 40-150 days. Spain was one of the biggest countries slave trading countries.
The Portuguese were the first to engage in slave trade. The majority of their slaves were shipped to South America and the Caribbean to work on their plantations. This is where most of the slaves were taken before the slave trade expanded.
The conditions on the slave ships were cruel. There were two ways slaves could be packed on a ship. The first way was tight packing. This mean that the ships were loaded with as ma...

... middle of paper ...

...uments-for-and.html>.
"Selected Statistics." Selected Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Jan. 2014.
.
"Slave Trade." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation, n.d. Web. 05 Jan. 2014.
.
"Slavery in the Colonies." Slavery in the Colonies. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Jan. 2014.
.
"Treatment of Slaves in the U.S." Boundless. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Jan. 2014.

treatment-of-slaves-in-the-u-s/>.
Wheeler, Heather. "Black Peoples of America - The Slave Auction." Black Peoples of America.
History On the Net, 10 Oct. 2012. Web. 06 Jan. 2014.
.

Open Document