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History Of The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

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The world has a rich history of slavery extending from the past to present day. Although present day slavery is seen for the most part as an abomination to human life, the past tells a tale of a different story; a story that often seems as though slavery was justified and accepted. This paper seeks to provide a brief history of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. It is intended to help educate the reader and develop a perspective on whether or not slavery was a justifiable commodity given the time period. Alternately, it may lead to the conclusion that the triangular trade route was developed by early day entrepreneurs whose intellectual dishonestly allowed the slave trade practice to prevail for centuries. Although slavery has been around far …show more content…

As the inhabitants of the world progress towards a more peaceful ground for living, ethical and moral norms often move at different paces given a societies demographics. While some societies viewed slavery as an act against humanity, some justified it and viewed it as a norm. It is important to understand why slavery began and why slavery has lasted for so long. The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade began when European Empires began to expand. The need for a larger work force peaked as the Europeans expansion lacked a sufficient amount of laborers as a vital resource. Europeans viewed Africans as exceptional workers due to their experience with agriculture and farming. Africans were also experienced in working in warm climates that often meant they were more resistant to diseases. The most common explanation during the existence of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade for why Africans were best suited and chosen as early slaves is that they were reputed as being great workers in …show more content…

Slavery had been a tradition in African culture. Many states within Africa had practiced slavery through forced labor, debt bondage, as well as, many other forms. Slaves from the Muslim dominated North African coast had been tested but it was found that the slaves were too educated and thus were more prone to rebel. This seems to be an early indication that slavery was unethical, but it still prevailed centuries to come as the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade emerged. Was the failure of the recruitment of the Northern Coast slaves due to the intellectual properties of the slaves and could the solution to this have been to find less educated Africans in order to force the burden of slavery upon them? The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade provides history with evidence that intellectual dishonesty and prior proper planning of manipulation may have been a powerful variable in the success of the slave

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The transatlantic slave trade was a brutal and inhumane enterprise, where millions of Africans were forcibly transported to the Americas under brutal conditions (Bailyn 140). The conditions for enslaved Africans on English sugar plantations were often horrific, with harsh punishments and long working hours in hot and humid conditions (Fisher 47). Nonetheless, it is undeniable that the use of enslaved labor was a crucial factor in the success of the English colonies in the Caribbean. The use of slave labor allowed the English to cultivate crops such as sugar cane at a much lower cost, and thus gain a competitive advantage in the global market (Fisher 34). Without the labor of enslaved Africans, it is unlikely that the English would have been able to establish such profitable and successful sugar

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1137 Words | 5 Pages

Known as the “peculiar institution” in the South, slavery was perhaps the most divisive issue America faced during its early days. Rapid westward expansion encouraged by the American idea of manifest destiny highlighted the issues that came with protecting the institution of slavery, resulting in various compromises drawn up by the government in an effort to qualm the intensifying division in the country. Moreover, movements like the Second Great Awakening revitalized America’s moral conscience, revealing the ugly injustice and dehumanization hidden in the institution of slavery. In the decades leading up to the civil war, economic and moral arguments were what fueled the growing opposition to slavery. Analyzing the differences between the

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491 Words | 2 Pages

Both parties are guilty for exchanging profits, goods, and extensive labor. The slaves were forced into European sugar plantations, and used for profits, forced labor, and brutal beatings. Slaves were outsiders and restricted to limited positions. (Strayer , 688). While, the Europeans hold responsible for agricultural slave practices, the Portuguese searched West Africa for gold,

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The detailed descriptions included in primary sources, along with the descriptive and emotional illustrations included in graphic history are crucial elements in studying and understanding the process and history of the transatlantic slave trade. Rafe Blaufarb and Liz Clarke tie both of these together to help readers truly understand this historic tragedy in the book, Inhuman Traffick: The International Struggle Against the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Although different than the standard book that may be used, that simply spews information out in an uncreative and somewhat boring way, this book is a tool that can be chosen in classrooms to teach different aspects of the slave trade. Working together, the primary sources and graphic history

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Document 1 shows the year of emancipation in various countries in the Americas and Muslim world; it can be seen that most of the American countries emancipated slavery about a century before most of the Muslim countries did so. As most of the countries eventually emancipated slavery because of internal pressures from the public, it can be deduced that the American countries had greater public pressure on slavery earlier on than did the Muslim countries. This could be because of the difference in treatment of slaves where slaves in the Americans were treated significantly more harshly than their counterparts in the Muslim world. Document 4 is a table showing the usage of slaves in Cuba in 1825 and it can be seen that the majority was used for rural farming while the minority was used for urban occupations. This is opposite to slave use in the Muslim world, where the majority was used for urban work and the minority was used in the rural fields.

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1194 Words | 5 Pages

The Atlantic Slave Trade is remembered as a dark and cruel point in history, in which African Americans were treated as animals by inhuman and cruel men. During this time period the ideal shared by many white men was that of white supremacy, meaning that people with white skin are naturally better than those with dark skin. They also believed that it was their worldly duty to care for people with black skin. However, the majority of these men did not care for those they viewed as their subordinates. These cruel men viewed the black race as inhuman, however, it was those who had white skin that were the real inhumans, they were beasts.

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876 Words | 4 Pages

Following the period of Exploration, explorers discovered new lands rich with resources such as gold, silver, and other precious materials that needed to be mined, and crops that needed to be farmed. However, workers who could perform these tasks were scarce. The Native American population had been killed by disease and war, and the colonists weren’t often willing to do this labor. Fortunately for the European colonists, they had access for a convenient and inexpensive labor market via the means of African Slave Trade.

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Lottie Jones Hood’s approach starts off by introducing herself to the International Congregational Journal and giving her reasons of interest in this topic. Hood begins by stating: “ There would have been no Underground Railroad in the United States had there been no Trans Atlantic Slave Trade in the global economy of the world”, (Hood, 48). Historical background on the Transatlantic Slave Trade is then provided by Hood in which she addresses that the Europeans and African nations engaged in an economic practice that enslaved many millions of Africans between the years 1441 through 1888 (Hood, 49). She also addresses that voyage for those enslaved and taken by the British; the famous Middle Passage took around six to eight weeks and slaved who survived the horribly described voyage were sold off in the markets as slaves (Hood, 50). More historical context is the provided by her in which she states that the first Africans were brought to North America to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619.

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218 Words | 1 Pages

The diary writing by William Byrd show us how slaves had a major part in the economy of the colonial America and how most of them were treated. Most elites European come to the Americas looking for wealth and power, but they did not have the workforce to accomplish their goals they need people to work their cultivation. Slave Africans became a shipper and easier solution to this problems. (63) “From 1492 to 1820 enslaved African migrants outnumbered Europeans migrants to the new world by nearly five to one”. This incoming slaves Africans did most of the hurt work for this elite Europeans.

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832 Words | 4 Pages

Europeans then resorted to the use of African people as slaves. Overall, African slaves were much better for working in the fields than Europeans or Native Americans. They were immune to many European diseases, had experience with farming, and were agricultural experts. Although they were great workers, doing back-breaking tasks day after day, they were given no pay, and no rights. Slaves were thought of only as property, and were beaten by their owners.

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861 Words | 4 Pages

The enslaved Africans were viewed as property, meaning they could be sold and shipped off across the sea for work and labor. The Transatlantic slave trade expanded despite the consequences for the enslaved africans because of economic success, transportation of new goods to new places, and

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624 Words | 3 Pages

Slavery in Africa and in Latin America was distinct, despite being connected through the Atlantic slave trade. While traditional African slavery was practiced largely by communities to help produce food or for prestige, slave labor in Latin America was practiced on a much larger scale, for it was central to the colonies’

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Men were chained by each other’s packed in cargo they had to lie in each other’s blood and urine. The development of the Atlantic slave trade enslaved far greater numbers of Africans and increased exploitation of slave labour from Africa to New World. Slaves were exported from Africa to America for a hard work firstly had to endure inhuman conditions in

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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.

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Supernatural and Technology in Victorian Era: Conflict or Connection? In Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897), the author writes far from being the goodness of heroes and the pure evil and villain as Dracula represents; but rather is that how technology influences the monstrous supernatural, thereby digging into the fears that the public had with respect to newest technologies during that time. At the same time, the novel also steps in the supernatural or religious ideology to contribute the influence of traditional symbolization in the Victorian Era. It is significant that people have the cognition of the old-world superstitions and the modern technology. Then it brings readers to a question that almost all the people are interested about: Does the

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