The Atlantic Slave Trade Analysis

The Atlantic Slave Trade by David Northup includes four essays that offer arguments on the cause of African slavery. “The first paper was written by Eric Williams, a historian who studies the economic view of African slavery; he argued that slavery was not born out of racism but rather a consequence of slavery”(Williams, 2). “The second paper in the book was written by David Eltis; he argued that slavery was not caused just by economics because it would have been more reasonable and cheaper to enslave Europeans”(Davis, 7). “The third essay was written by David Davis, he argues that slavery was caused by developments in the medieval Islamic world which reinforced African slavery”(Davis, 13). “The last essay written by Linda Heywood and John

He argues that Africans were just not enslaved because of economic reasons but it was cheaper to bring enslaved Europeans to the New World. He also argues the notion that prejudice against blacks did not create the African slave trade. The first example that Eltis explains is that “ we must explore the labor options of early modern Europeans- both those that were tired and those that were not”(Eltis, 8). Eltis is proving that European labor options where cheaper than African labor options. The second example that Eltis uses is “ the crux of the matter was shipping costs, which comprised by far the greater part of the price of imported bonded labor in Americas”(Eltis, 8). Eltis is trying say that European shipping costs was at a much lower price than African American shipping costs. Another segment that Eltis goes into is the advantages of using European slaves by saying “ Unskilled male convicts from England and Ireland sold for sixteen euros each in Maryland in the years 1767-1775 at a time when newly arrived African male slaves in the prime age group were selling for about triple this amount in Virginia and Maryland”(Eltis, 9). In other words, Eltis is explaining that there was no reason why the Europeans enslaved Africans when Africans were more expensive than to enslave Europeans. David Eltis’s argument about why Africans were enslaved is most likely

Well through the analysis of the book The Atlantic Slave Trade written by David Northup there are four essays that claim why Africans were enslaved. The first essay was written by Eric Williams and his argument was that slavery caused racism but there was economic motives that caused slavery. The second essay was written by David Davis entitled “Ideas and Institutions from the Old World” he argued that the developments in the medieval Islamic world influenced European racism and brought African slavery to Europe. The third essay was written by Linda Heywood and John Thornton and its titled “European and African Cultural Differences”. They argue that Europeans saw African Americans like themselves and not like Africans form Africa. The fourth essay was written by David Eltis its titled “The Cultural Roots of African Slavery”. He argues that Africans were not just enslaved for economic purposes but he also argues that it would have been cheaper to enslave Europeans and bring them in New World. Lastly, the most likely explanation of why were Africans enslaved was David Eltis’s argument. That stated Africans were not just enslaved for economic purposes but he also argues that it would have been cheaper to enslave Europeans and bring them in New World. This argument is most likely correct because it explores not just the economic reasons behind why Africans were enslaved but the cultural reasons