The Nature Of The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

The evolution of history has always seemed to depend on one major subject to accomplish countries’ goals, slavery. Slavery has always been in existence from the early Egyptians to today, and the purpose still seems to be the same to a certain extent. The purpose has always been to gain as much economic profit possible by performing as little work possible. It is very obvious the only way to make a lot of money is by doing a lot of work, which is where the slaves and servants came in. When people think about the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, most people only think about the basics of the slaves being brought to multiple colonies in the new world. The slave trade goes much deeper than the shipping of slaves in horrible ship conditions. While that

It has great reason to. The culture the people created in the slave trade is unlike anything else in history. Africans were capturing other tribes and using slavery as a way to pay debt. The enslaved Africans did not know what they were getting into, and only hoped that one day they would work off their debt and return to their family. Little did they know they would be working off that debt for the rest of their life. They were sold at auctions to Europeans who would ship them across the seas to a foreign country to be sold once again. The ships’ settings were hard to put into words. The slave traders used a packing method which would allow them to cram as many slaves on the ship as possible. The slave traders also had to make investment decisions on whether to pack the ship as tight as possible and risk losing more slaves from them not surviving or to not pack as tight with hopes that more slaves arrive alive. Either way the slaves were packed into the bottom of the ship in a dark and damp setting, and were forced to lay there until the ship landed in the new world. The slaves laid in their own filth until they could depart from the ship when they reached the new world. Some children and adults were treated more fair than the rest. These usually included the smaller framed slaves. According to the article “Children in the Slave Trade”, the ships usually defined children as “anyone under 4’4” (Vasconcellos). The “children” were often allowed to run around on the deck and some were even taught how to play certain games. Their special treatment does not erase the trauma they endured, or downplay any aspects of the trade system. The nature of the Slave Trade was beyond inhumane, one that is still difficult to