Atlantic Slave Trade
There was always slavery before the one we grew up learning about. If you owed money, you were a debt slave until you paid off your debt. As well as being born a slave, a slave could have been a prisoner of war,(POWs). Slavery began in the Americas because the Europeans needed laborers because their Encomienda System with the Natives failed. Bartholomew de las Casa suggested using West Africans as laborers because they were immune to european diseases. Africans already knew how to farm Sugar Cane and they knew how to work with metals. This made them the perfect labor source.
Several places in the New World, where the slaves were placed, were Cuba, Brazil, and Hispaniola. Slaves were put here because the climate was just right to grow sugar cane. The Triangular Trade was evolved from the Atlantic Slave Trade. It was connected in a way that resembled a triangle hence its name. It was a series of trade routes between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. What was traded were slaves, raw materials, weapons, diseases, and goods. For some slaves, they had to go through the Middle Passage. It is the portion of the Atlantic Ocean between Africa and the Americas.
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Some were clothed, while others were made to travel naked. Genders were in separate living quarters. Slaves were crammed so tight that there was barely any room to move. If a slave disobeyed, then he/she could be thrown overboard. Woman and children lived on the top deck where they were abused by the crew. Slaves die from disease and are fed at most, three times daily of gruel. They were shackled to their quarters and were made to dance around for the crew’s entertainment as exercise. The crew would push the slaves around and beat them. Most ships were crawling with sickness and rats. Life as a slave was very harsh if you are on a slave