Slavery In Colonial America Essay

The horrors of slavery didn’t begin in colonial America. Slavery can be traced all the way back to 18th century Babylon. Babylonian slaves were treated considerably well, with the exception of the workers in the mines, in fact the slaves where even permitted to own property. Unfortunately, not much is known about slavery in Babylon, but it wasn’t the only ancient civilization that had slaves. Some of the others were Greece, Rome, and many within the middle ages. In 8th Century Greece the free citizens refused to work in any job that was considered beneath them, leaving many job openings to slaves. For example, working as a secretary, accountant, banker or any subsidiary position in business. In 2nd Century Rome many slaves were sent to work

The term slave coms from the 10th century when the Germans captured so many Slavs that the name of their race became the term used for their newfound position. As the Muslim Qur’an encourages slavery, the Muslim culture was filled with slaves in almost every work position. Slaves could even become captains in the military. This led to the Egyptian army overthrowing the sultan and ruling the middle East. The army ruled for about three centuries and the rule was called the Mameluke dynasty. The famed Portuguese slave trade lasted from the 15th to 17th century. It started when Portuguese settlers moved to the Cape Verde Islands creating the essential link in the slave trade from Africa to Europe. This led into the Triangular trade of the 18th Century. The triangular trade, like a triangle, had three parts. The first was the shipment of firearms, rim, cotton goods, metal trinkets, and beads to Africa. Then the British traded their goods for slaves and set off for the West Indies. In the west Indies, they traded the slaves for molasses which was harvested from the sugar cane plantations. Then, back in England, the molasses is made into Rum and the cycle