Slave Trade In The 16th And 19th Century

Thesis Statement: The Atlantic Slave Trade played a significant role in the birth and development of capitalism in a positive way in Western World. Slaves sold as a property for profit and these profits contributed to the growth of modern finance and also slave labor in the plantation for Atlantic trade contributed to the development of capitalism in a way that it enabled more production and stimulated the economy of time.

The African Slave Trade is the harsh movement from Africa to the New World. This began after the fall of Songhai 1590 CE. There were several reasons why the slave trade began. Death of Native Americans led to more demand for slaves. Production of wood, fur, coffee, tobacco, and sugar became reasons European countries rose power. They needed people to work for them to produce these products, SLAVES. They’re cheap and there were high demands for them.

The Atlantic Slave Trade caused many political, social, and economical effects on the US. There are debates over reparations, and whether the confederate flag should be hung up. It also affected the Civil Rights Movement greatly and contributed to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and contributed to racism.

Exploration to the New World led to greedy rulers wanting more. There were many new resources and opportunities to make money; for example tobacco, sugar, and even minerals. Because of the demand for these crops, the Europeans needed someone to do the work. With the Native American population drastically declining, the Europeans had to find another source of labor so they turned to the African Americans. This began the slave trade where millions of slaves were taken from Africa to other areas as a source of income. The absence of humanitarian concerns greatly influenced the treatment of these slaves. The slaves were treated horribly due to the laziness, the greediness, and the uncaringness of the Europeans.

The Enlightenment Period was the reformation of society, politics, and the economy. The Enlightenment Period was occurring throughout Europe during the 18th century. Traditional views were challenged by science and reasoning. Philosophers who had a great impact during the Enlightenment period included: John Locke, Voltaire and Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Adam Smith. John Locke proposed that everyone was born free and had certain unalienable rights. Locke’s philosophy can be observed through sections of the United States Declaration of Independence.

The transatlantic slave trade began in the 15th century, after the Portuguese started exploring the coast of West Africa. This had a long term effect on Africa because even though it started out benefiting the upper class in Africa, the long term effect was devastating. While the Europeans started to enter Africa, they enjoyed “the triple advantage of guns and other technology, widespread literacy, and the political organization necessary to sustain expensive programs of exploration and conquest”(Doc 4). Africa’s relations with Europe depended on common interests, which they did not have. Europe’s contact in Africa, involving economic exchanges and political relationships, was not mutually beneficial. Europe mostly benefited from Africa because

The Trans-Atlantic slave trade was responsible for the forced migration of between 12 to 15 million people. From Africa to the Western Hemisphere, the slave trade not only displaced millions of Africans to a life of exploitation, but also a painful death. Nobody knew the total number of people who died during slavery in Africa. The Atlantic slave trade Many died a slowly painful death during transportation and imprisonment, or in horrendous conditions during the Middle Passage. The voyage from Africa to the Americas was horrifying and painful for the slaves so many slaves considered suicide as an option. The African Kingdoms were kidnapping slaves from other Africans Kingdoms and trading them with Europeans. In the 15th century some enslaved

In the early years of the United States, Africans were shipped to America to become hard working slaves. Africans were constantly being taken from their families. Most slave owners treated slaves unfairly and denied them of basic rights. 12.5 million Africans were taken to be sold as slaves in America. 10 million survived the journey across the Atlantic. An injustice in our American History was when Africans were continually taken from their homes, forced to endure cruelty from their owners, other white people, and denied the same rights as other Americans.

Europeans and Africans were close neighbors and allies, until the Europeans got lazy and greedy and jumped to the conclusion that if they to their loyal neighbors into slavery then all of their problems would be solved. In the mid- 15th century the Africans and Europeans broke their alliance as the Africans had been betrayed for money and labor. The Europeans got very greedy and sold their neighbors for a large amount of money, or used them for personal labor. During the middle passage the Africans were beaten and starved to death. The journey through the middle passage and the slave trade experience caused physical,emotional, and social pain among the captured Africans who were separated from family, treated with mounds of disrespect, and forced to make life changing delicious that could lead to brutal punishments.

After years of peasantry and disease, Europe was ready for an economic and cultural upturn. The Crusades introduced Europeans of higher education to the culture of Eastern Europe, and as the renaissance swept throughout Europe, it spurred a revival of knowledge and eagerness to know and see more. This newfound philosophy of living to be happy rather than just to survive triggered European exploration to the Western Hemisphere as well as to the nations to the south. Two countries that did exactly this are Portugal and Spain, leaving lasting impacts, some similar and some different, on Africa and the Americas.

The Atlantic Slave Trade is one of those topics that has a lot of controversies. There are people who believe that the trade did not influence the Americas and the Atlantic, while others believe that it did. The Atlantic Slave Trade did have an impact in the Americas and the Atlantic based on the book “Africa in World History.” Therefore, this is the view that will be presented in this paper. In order to understand how the trade had an impact, one must understand its past, how was the Atlantic Slave Trade different from other trades, and why were Africans the ones chosen for the trade.

Europeans had taken africans into slavery around 1400-1560, they were taken because labor was much cheaper. Due to slavery their economy was boosted, the economy grew but african families had been split apart. Many men needed slaves for hard work, labor but some older woman usually the mothers or grandmothers were used inside homes to help cook and look after the children, they were also seen as maids to clean the house do dishes ect. Slaves had great experience in the fields also, they were used to taking care of cattle and had been adapted to tropical climate in which people of the “New World” could not work due to sickness, disease. The Africans have had some immunity to the illness, disease because they have lived in and worked on land with similar climate.

During the fifteenth century, Europeans started to colonize the Americas; North, South, and the Caribbean. While this period of colonization was occurring, the demand for cheap labor and money was consistently growing. Europeans attempted to use various different sources for slavery, such as Native Americans, but the numerous flaws with these other societies resulted in Europeans using African people as slaves. During the period of Atlantic slave trade, many issues contributed to the result of using Africans as slaves in the New World as well as effects for using them. These different causes and effects led to a great percent of African population to go to the Americas, and racism that lasted hundreds of years and still exists in today’s society.

Over twelve million Africans were captured and taken against their will by Europeans in the Atlantic slave trade from about 1525-1866. The experience that the slaves endured was horrendous, unsanitary and overall the worst time of their lives. The middle passage was where the slaves were taken from Africa to the Americas via ships. After they arrived in the Americas, they were sold and forced to work for their new owners. Due to strong European force, slaves experienced dehumanization through being captured from their villages and tortured, living with awful conditions on ships, and being sold against their will to Americans.

The Trans-Atlantic slave trade impacted and changed the world by misplacing and separating thousands of individuals from their families and homes. Thousands of people lost their lives when they were abducted and forced into slavery. Many did not survive the ship rides to the Americas. Many were murdered and tortured. Some were thrown of boats and died from diseases caught on the ship. Nonetheless, the Trans-Atlantic trade brought African culture to the Americas and the Caribbean.