Atlantic Slave Trade Dbq Essay

The slave trade going on during the 15th-19th centuries was mostly that of African slaves being brought over to the Americas by Europeans. But before that happened African citizens led their own part in ensuring enough slaves were available for trade: either by giving up captives of their kingdoms or by even kidnapping African people. Slaves contributed largely to the economy and were seen as replaceable, so they were treated as harshly as masters saw fit. The Atlantic slave trade brought prosperity Europeans and brought harm to many west Africans: Cruelty and slavery bringing about a social change in how Africans were treated in society, depopulation of Africans as a result of the kidnapping and harsh conditions under European slave owners,

Lovejoy of Cambridge University: “they were outsiders who were alien by origin or who had been denied their heritage through judicial or other sanctions; that coercion could be used at will; that their labor power was at the complete disposal of a master; that they did not have the right to their own sexuality and, by extension, to their own reproductive capacities; and that the slave status was inherited unless provision was made to ameliorate that status.”(Doc. 2) This passage describes how Africans were brought to a foreign land and denied their culture. This could have made it hard for slaves to ever adopt an identity or persona, making them seem more as objects than people. Also the fact that most offspring would become slaves, that becoming the only thing they know would also make it very difficult for them to develop identities. The author of this passage is a professor at Cambridge University, this would seem to be an unbiased opinion based upon the time frame and all the research materials most likely at his disposal. A reason for writing this would be to analyze how African Americans are treated today or in 1983 when the passage was written and connect it to the Atlantic slave

The social change that was brought about and for African slaves can be compared to the use of foreign slaves in the Roman empire. Both brought to a place they were not familiar with an expectation of following the beliefs already at the empire/ area they were at. This loss of identity and feeling of alienation brings about a social change in how slaves were seen even if slaves in the Roman empire weren’t based on race. Another aspect that can be compared to Roman slave was the depopulation as a result of cruelty under slave owners. Roman slave owners were also known to subject their slaves to torture and usually lived very short lives. The last comparison is that the high quantity of slaves brought about large quantities of goods for use in trade by Europeans. Prosperity was brought to the Roman empire through labor because of there being a lot of slaves to complete the public works projects which made infrastructure notorious for being ahead of its time. Also because regular citizens were not needed on farms and public works projects, they could spend time making medical discoveries and improving