ipl-logo

Reasons For The Transatlantic Slave Trade

2716 Words11 Pages
Why did British settlers in North America and the West Indies increasingly need to use slave labour between c. 1660 and 1807?
Slavery is one of the most emotive issues in human history. Western slavery represented an aspect of the commodification of human beings for reasons of labor that is central to economic activity. From the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries European slavery was focused on the Atlantic world. There, labour was needed and labour was available but in different places. The need for labour sprang from the inherent demographic difference between the Americas and South Asia, from the impact of European expansion and from the specific labor tasks that the colonists required.
The Atlantic slave trade paid much attention to the role of the slave trade in British North America and West Indian colonies. According to Kenneth Morgan (2007: 18) “the transatlantic slave trade was an important business enterprise within the British Empire for nearly a century and a half, from the restoration of the Stuart monarchy in 1660 until the trade was abolished in 1807”. In this period the slave trade and its capital turnover made a substantial contribution to the economic development of the British Empire. Despite the positive contribution of the slave trade, some historians had skeptical views about the benefits of the slave trade. This essay will discuss motives and reasons of why British settlers needing the slave labour in the period of growing British
Show More
Related
506 Words | 3 Pages

During the slave trade Britain’s economics was thriving through all the imports and exports on trade. Planters, slave owners, stock holders on slaves, even banks made a profit. During this period, they helped the economy out a lot but times change.

Read More
763 Words | 4 Pages

The transatlantic slave trade was extremely important to the development of the British economy in the 18th century. Slave ships needed large crews in

Read More
1527 Words | 7 Pages

During the Reconstruction Era from 1865 to 1877, Southern white people were segregated to a large extent between wealthy plantation owners and poor white farmers. Both E. B. Seabrook and a New York Times’ writer compare poor white farmers’ horrid lifestyles to freed slaves because there was an extreme similarity between the two. Although the slaves were emancipated as a result of the Civil War, they underwent economic hardships similar to poor white farmers in the South. In fact, the New York Times author makes the argument that the poor whites lived in a worse condition than freed blacks. - “The use of slave labor… tended to create a monopoly in the hands of the capitalists, and increased, in an almost insuperable degree, the difficulty of a poor man’s rising, but making nearly impossible the enlarging of his sphere of operations” (Seabrook).

Read More
1388 Words | 6 Pages

The use of slaves has always been present in the world since the beginning of civilization, although the use and treatment of those slaves has differed widely through time and geographic location. Different geographies call for different types of work ranging from labor-intensive sugar cultivation and production in the tropics to household help in less agriculturally intensive areas. In addition to time and space, the mindsets and beliefs of the people in those areas affect how the slaves will be treated and how “human” those slaves will be perceived to be. In the Early Modern Era, the two main locations where slaves were used most extensively were the European dominated Americas and the Muslim Empires. The American slavery system and the

Read More
748 Words | 3 Pages

During the slave trade it was inhumane and violence, million of African people and children were taken away from their home to work in the new world. The slave trade took away many productive workers from Africa which they are skilled in farming and other establishment. The captain of the ship would try to enlarge their profit by trying to fit as many slaves as possible in the new world. Sometime slaves are captured and placed into dungeon with other captives. People would protests to be released but the two kings was corrupted and demanding

Read More
928 Words | 4 Pages

In the Americas, the main exports were silver and cash crops, both of which required work that was terribly tedious and exhausting. This led to the overwhelming predominance of slavery in the Americas, since the Europeans were not willing to carry out the hard work themselves. When the Europeans found they lacked a workforce, the sought slaves elsewhere. While the people who were called slaves changed, the institution never did. The same mistreatment, torture, and horrible conditions were evident in American slavery until it was abolished centuries later.

Read More
1477 Words | 6 Pages

In an effort to discourage allyship, captains encouraged sailors to use force to control slaves which later bred the invention of race. All the while captains reaped the enormous benefits of the capitalist system that was the slave trade. While it’s history may be still be a bit of a mystery, Marcus Rediker shows us the massive social and economic aftermath of the slave

Read More
1115 Words | 5 Pages

It was seen as necessity for a country to have slaves now since they needed them to do the work since the newly converted Christians had protection from slavery from the crown. Merrick Whitcomb describes this in his, Gold of the Indies (Doc 1). Whitcomb also goes on to describe how the Europeans treat the slaves imported from Africa. This is the first shift in the gradual switch to more humanitarian ideals.

Read More
1396 Words | 6 Pages

Marielle Apronti Prof. Oscar Williams AAFS 311 4 March 2018 The Trans-Atlantic slave trade was the most important factor when considering the early development of European capitalism. The arrival of the Portuguese to the West African Coast and their establishment of trading and slave ports throughout the continent set in stone a trend of exploitation of Africa 's labor and human resources. Europeans greatly benefited from the Trans-Atlantic trade, as it allowed them to aggregate raw materials such as sugar and cotton to manufacture products that funded the Industrial Revolution. In the book “Capitalism and Slavery” by Eric Williams he addresses the origin of “Negro” history, the economic and political impact of slavery in Great Britain, the role of the American Revolution and the decline of slavery in Great Britain.

Read More
814 Words | 4 Pages

In the 1700-1800’s, the use of African American slaves for backbreaking, unpaid work was at its prime. Despite the terrible conditions that slaves were forced to deal with, slave owners managed to convince themselves and others that it was not the abhorrent work it was thought to be. However, in the mid-1800’s, Northern and southern Americans were becoming more aware of the trauma that slaves were facing in the South. Soon, an abolitionist group began in protest, but still people doubted and questioned it.

Read More
529 Words | 3 Pages

Beginning in 1607, slavery arose as indentured servitude ended, as it was full of too many complications. Bacon’s rebellion proved that free labor is successful, as long as I was purely free and not reliant on the promise of land in the end. The accessibility and legality of slavery made it the perfect economical move to maintain the prospering cash crops of the North American colonies. Slavery seemed like the best option for the colonies in the 17th century, but the issues of differing human morality will begin to rise and trigger the civil

Read More
2053 Words | 9 Pages

The beginning of the 17th Century marked the practice of slavery which continued till next 250 years by the colonies and states in America. Slaves, mostly from Africa, worked in the production of tobacco and cotton crops. Later , they were employed or ‘enslaved’ by the whites as for the job of care takers of their houses. The practice of slavery also led the beginning of racism among the people of America. The blacks were restricted for all the basic and legally privileged rights.

Read More
488 Words | 2 Pages

Good evening Professor and class. I will first be examing the merits and risks of the flat tax to determine whether it is a viable solution to economic growth followed by an examination into the national sales tax (NST). The flat tax is just that, a tax, which sets an even playing field for all (individuals, businesses, and corporations) (Hall & Rabushka, 2007). The key points within this type of tax structure is to invest more money into businesses to allow for continued growth by creating more jobs, more product, therefore, boosting the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) value and amount of viable tax revenue for the government to function. According to Hall and Rabushka (2007), the flat tax increases work effort, reduces taxes on business, encourages entrepreneurship and once fully implemented the U.S. could see as much as six percent increase in revenue.

Read More
807 Words | 4 Pages

By using this reference, it illustrated the severity of the alienation of blacks in the Southern United States. In 1619, a Dutch ship “introduced the first captured Africans to America, planting the seeds of a slavery system that evolved into a nightmare of abuse and cruelty that would ultimately divide the nation”. The Africans were not treated humanely, but were treated as workers with no rights. Originally, they were to work for poor white families for seven years and receive land and freedom in return. As the colonies prospered, the colonists did not want to give up their workers and in 1641, slavery was legalized.

Read More
1533 Words | 7 Pages

The filling of the Holy Spirit has intrigued me for quite some time as a concept that seems to me to be a little vague in the minds of many Christians today. Yet, nevertheless, it strikes me as being a very important issue as it pertains to our lives as followers of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. Anything that directly affects our relationship to God is of vital importance for a few very good reasons. First, as stated in the Westminster shorter catechism: “Man’s primary purpose is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” We cannot glorify the Lord if we do not know what he wants us to do or how he wants us to live.

Read More

More about Reasons For The Transatlantic Slave Trade

Related Topics

Open Document