African Slave Trade
During the 15th century the effects of the African Slave trade had a heavy impact on the Atlantic world. The Europeans gained great wealth from the cheap labor of these enslaved people. These severe conditions caused the deaths of millions of African slaves. Though the African slave trade influenced the time period in which it took place in, the effects of the african slave trade can still be felt today.
Historically, slaves of different skin colors had been used for thousands of years. In the 1500’s Europeans discovered that African slaves were the best of them all. Once the slaves were transported to the Americas, the slaves had no idea where they where they were. This meant they could not run away, which was a huge positive
…show more content…
The Triangular Trade was a network of trading African slaves. It consisted of one large route by boat from country to country. The system worked by having Europeans transfer manufacturing goods to the west coast of Africa. Traders then would exchange the goods for slaves. These slaves were then transferred to the Atlantic and sold in the West Indies. After the delivery, merchants would then buy more products such as sugar, coffee, and tobacco in the West Indies, which would later bring these products back to Europe. The slaves lived in extremely harsh conditions on their journeys, which could last as long as 3 weeks. They were not only brutally beaten by sailors they were also forced to live below the deck in tight quarters. Slaves were forced to live in their own waste and with such tight proximity which allowed disease to spread like wildfire. This lead to many deaths among all the journeys, about 2 million slaves died in total before they step foot on American soil. After the long three weeks, the slaves that survived would arrive in the West Indies and would be auctioned off to work for a slave owner. Although the conditions on the boat were horrific, the circumstances would only worse as they arrived at the mines and farms. Many African slaves would be worked to death and beaten by their slave owner. The African slaves also had very little food and very small huts to live in. These conditions that the African slaves endured would continue for the future generations as they were born into