American society before the Revolution was in many ways dependent on slavery. This institution would seem to contrast sharply with the aura of enlightenment and “unalienable rights” that surrounds our nation’s founding. However, slavery had an economic role that is impossible to ignore. The story of Venture Smith’s life, a man who was born free, then enslaved, and finally earned his freedom, reveals the financial opportunities behind slavery’s that encouraged white members of society to prolong its existence despite the rallying cries of freedom and independence that were the basis of the American Revolution.
Venture, originally named Broteer, was the eldest child born to Saungm Furro, a “Prince of the Tribe of Dukandarra” in Guinea (para.
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The name “Venture” itself reflects a commercial venture undertaken to make a financial gain. Throughout his life, his person was appraised in terms of monetary and physical worth. He was separated from his family because he would not provide a return on investment for his master. And in order to experience the same freedom his owners enjoyed every day, Venture had to in some sense partake in the business of slavery by purchasing himself and thereby further lining the pockets of his master. The system of slavery locked African Americans within an unrelenting business deal they could not play a role in unless they were, like Venture, providing financial gains for their