Starting in the 15th century, exploration gained momentum throughout the European countries because of the massive amount of resources that the land in the New World provided. In order to make use of these resources, there would have to be a large amount of laborers to do the work. The Europeans refused to do the labor, and the Native American population had decreased due to diseases and war. However, Europeans knew of another approach for cheap labor, the African Slave Trade, which gained demand through the middle of the 15th century. Between 1450 and 1870 over ten million humans were captured and taken from Africa to become slaves. The African slave trade was influenced negatively by the absence of humanitarian concerns because of the need for labor, the increased importance of gaining profit, and assertion of …show more content…
In fact Olaudah Equiano, a slave himself, stated “Unfortunately, many humane gentlemen, but not residing on their states, are obliged to leave the management of them in the hands of the human butchers, who cut and mangle the slaves in a shocking manner” (Document 8). Still, even if the Europeans didn’t have any control, they still lacked concern for all of the slaves, so all of the negative consequences still apply. If the Europeans had any compassion for the slaves, then that might of been a valid argument, but because the Europeans didn’t care about the slaves, they still inflicted negative consequences on the slaves. In the final analysis, we can observe that the African slave trade was influenced negatively by the absence of humanitarian concerns because of the need for cheap labor, the interest in gaining profit, and assertion of European dominance. Had the slave trade never been used, we might not have had any racial discrimination among Africans and
Slavery was a main contributor in the South in the 1800s. African Americans were enslaved in large plantations growing cotton, instead of tobacco. Slavery was the same old story it was in the 1600s, barely anything had changed. Slavery was the dominating reality of southern life in the antebellum period due to economical, social, and political reasons.
The transatlantic slave trade was one of the most important factors in how the world came to be the way it is today. This trade led to the economic prosperity and political development in European countries and the population decline on the African continent. It was the catalyst for the development of both rich and poor societies today. The Two Princes of Calabar is a prime example of how this trade affected the economic growth of the countries and civilizations involved.
The Transatlantic Slave Trade started out as merchant trading of different materials for slaves. With obtaining a controllable form of labor being their main focus, the Europeans began to move to Africa and take over their land. The natives had to work on the newly stolen land to have a source of income to provide for their families.Soon others Europeans began to look for free labor by scouring the continent of Africa. Because Europeans were not familiar with the environment, Africans were employed to kidnap other Africans for the Transatlantic Slave Trade. After trade routes were established, different economies began to link together, and various items were exchanged across the world. As the Atlantic Slave Trade grew larger, problems began
Discuss the transatlantic slave trade, how it operated and its consequences on the African continent.
Document E: Autobiography of a Former Slave is the most reliable source throughout this entire packet. This source was written by a slave, Olaudah Equiano, who was kidnapped at a young age by an African tribe and sold to European slave traders. In the excerpt, the former slave said “I was soon put down under the decks, and there I received such a smell in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life,” this slave could not handle the smell he breathed. This explains to the reader that being so tightly together was a major problem, which caused diseases and infections. “I became so sick and low that I was not able to eat, nor had I the least desire to taste any thing.” This quote tells the reader that because of the horrible smells
From the mid 15th century through the majority of the 19th century, slave trade was used to supply laborers to the Americas. The ways used to bring these forced laborers to the Americas lacked humane treatment of them as slaves. Overall the neglect of humanitarian concerns had a violent and inhumane impact on the treatment of the slaves throughout their capture, trade, transportation, and continued life as a slave.
usiness institutions and increased economic growth. Welfare and urbanization blossomed with the introduction of sugar and potatoes in massive quantities to the working class in Europe. Depopulation plus increased demand for crops in the Americas gave rise to the transatlantic slave trade. Devastating political, social, and economic consequences for the African continent. Search for precious metals by the Spanish, in a sequential over exploitation fashion, pushed the Spanish inland, but not as fast as their diseases, plants, and animals (Grennes 2012)
Hi April! After weighing the evidence presented in Chapter 3, I also came to the conclusion that the desire for wealth and power was a big cause of racial slavery - but I think you did a much better job explaining this theory than I did. However, in my post I mentioned that the monopolization of African slaves, as a result of the creation of the Royal African Company, played, in my opinion, the biggest role in the racial side of slavery. While I am sticking to this theory until disproven, I do think that you make a very good point when you say, "Each action handed down from England, combined with the laws established by Colonial America, propelled slavery more firmly into a situation based solely on race,". Although this is different than my
The Africans slaves were treated just as badly as the Native Americans if not worse. They were forced to work hard gruesome hours in a fields, never feed or kept in good health, they were branded like common farm animals and brutally tortured at any signs of disobedience and resistance. As European crops and materials grew in demand, more African slaves were brought to the New World for work, thus beginning the Atlantic slave trade Europeans justified the Atlantic slave trade, which was the buying and selling of African slaves, in different ways. Three commonly used excuses being one: “ Apologist for the African slave trade long argued that European traders purchased African who had already been enslaved and who otherwise would have been put to death.Thus, apologists claimed the slave trade actually saved lives.” As well as two: “ In the Christian world, the most important rationalization for slavery was the so called ‘Curse of Ham’ According to the doctrine, the Bible figure Noah had cursed his son Ham with blackness and the condition slavery.” The last justification was that Europeans, full of greed and power, needed more people that weren't of European descendent to do all the dirty, hard and dangerous work for them. All of
The slaves and slave owners in the Americas resulted in the concept of white supremacy, consequently causing vast social divisions among the wealthy Caucasians and poor Africans. These seemingly trivial actions to obtain affluence led America into the national issues that still patronize the United States to this day. Furthermore, “The plight and problems of workers today , black and white, may be directly traceable to African slavery in the United States” (Diggs 157). Even though, slavery was legalized during the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, they were eventually slavery becomes a major rationale of the Civil War. Although, through this conflict and the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, blacks in the United States allowed us to free the slaves they did not gain human rights until after the Civil Rights Act, thirteenth amendment, and the Voting Rights Act in the 1960s were established. The social repercussions of bringing slavery in the United States via Triangular Trade needs to remain heavily embedded in our history courses in order to prevent recurrences of social oppression for future
In the 1500’s to the 1900’s African slaves would be put through traumatizing events such as being taken from their families, abused both mentally and physically, and were treated as animals instead of human beings, all because of trade. This began when Christopher Columbus, a Spanish explorer, tried to go west instead of east to the Spice Islands and he found South America. Spain travels to this land and finds many empires and tribes and soon sends more explorers like Hernan Cortes. Cortes was a very terrible man, he ruined the Aztec empire with smallpox and greed, all because they had gold. Hernan began to use the Aztecs as slaves to look for gold. He returns back to the King and Queen that sent him.
... The Economic History Review, by Behrendt, Stephen D. David Eltis, David Richardson that stated, “…second impact of Africans that goes beyond violence on slave ships followed from the natural Africans assumption of equal status in the trading relationship…came in the wake of holding Europeans…”(Source 9). The result of considering the equal status between the Africans and the Europeans from Africa’s point of view was the Atlantic slave trade which millions of African people’s live had been jeopardized and their fate had been seal to work in the fields for the rest of their lives.
When the Europeans needed cheap labor, they knew a way to get it. “Africans had been traded as slave for centuries -- reaching Europe via the Islamic-run, trans-Saharan, trade routes… Between 1450 and the end of the nineteenth century slaves were obtained from along the west coast of Africa with the full and active co-operation of African kings and merchants” (Alistair Boddy 2). Slaves from africa have been traded between countries
People need cheap labor and African slaves were the answer. Natives slaves during this time were starting to die off and Europeans in both america and Europe need something else. They needed Africans. The Atlantic slave trade soon rose up and became a massive enterprise. Through the 1500 and 1600 almost 300,000 African slaves were brought to America. Through the next century that number rose to 1.3 million slaves. Slavery then spread all throughout America. Europeans started colonizing more part in America and their demand for
This class was filled with riveting topics that all had positive and negative impacts on Africa. As in most of the world, slavery, or involuntary human servitude, was practiced across Africa from prehistoric times to the modern era (Wright, 2000). The transatlantic slave trade was beneficial for the Elite Africans that sold the slaves to the Western Europeans because their economy predominantly depended on it. However, this trade left a mark on Africans that no one will ever be able to erase. For many Africans, just remembering that their ancestors were once slaves to another human, is something humiliating and shameful.