Slavery was not a new concept to African, as it was practiced prior to the slave trade. In African, slavery had a totally different outlook from that of slavery in the Caribbean and the Americas. The reasons of enslavement varied in Africa. Some persons sold themselves into slavery, while others were captured during wars or children whom their parents were unable to provide for. Another way Africans became slaves were if individuals were unable to pay fines that were imposed upon them (Sparks, 37). The Slave traders in African and the English slavers had a business relationship that was governed by the Parliament in London. Although, the trade was governed by the Parliament, both slaver traders and English slavers conducted trade in a way that was feasible for them (Spark, 18, 31). When the rivalry between Old Town and New Town arose, the English slavers did what was necessary for the business to go on as usual (Sparks, 18-19). The English slavers ambushed the slave traders of Old Town, capturing and enslaving Ephraim and Ancona (Spark, 21). These two African traders, Ephraim and Ancona, when returned back to Africa continued with life as usual, as slave traders. Although, exposed to a life contrary to what they were used to slave trading was their culture, the most profitable business during that time and a definite way of revenge.
Persons that were enslaved, in African, were able to return to the life as a slave trader once they were released from slavery. With this being the way of life for Africans in their culture, no matter what hardship was experienced that characterized slavery in the Caribbean and the Americas one could have returned to a life as a trader. Slavery in the Americans and the Caribbean called ...
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...rade. The arms that were used to ambush and hold the English captains as hostage for prices of slaves to paid, were obtained through the slave trade. The Slave traders’ exposure to English culture and style lead to further development, such as the trader being able to communicate using the English and dressing English. Also, being a trader puts the men both, at a lesser chance of becoming victims of slavery in the New World again. Therefore, these men reentry into the slave trade was a choice that was fostered by the culture, lucrative profits and revenge on the persons responsible for their exportation into the trade.
References
Sparks, Randy L. The Two Princes of Calabar: An Eighteenth - Century Atlantic Odyssey.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004.
Ulentin, Dr. Anne. “The Triangular Slave Trade.” Lecture, From Class, Nassau, NP, January 1, 2014.
The origin tale of the African American population in the American soil reveals a narrative of a diasporic faction that endeavored brutal sufferings to attain fundamental human rights. Captured and forcefully transported in unbearable conditions over the Atlantic Ocean to the New World, a staggering number of Africans were destined to barbaric slavery as a result of the increasing demand of labor in Brazil and the Caribbean. African slaves endured abominable conditions, merged various cultures to construct a blended society that pillared them through the physical and psychological hardships, and hungered for their freedom and recognition.
As these sources have illustrated due to the high demand for free labor, slavery became a prominent problem through this era. However, African enslaved did not simply obey their capture. The primary source The Slaves Mutiny written by in 1730 by William Snelgrave focuses on another aspect of slavery that the other sources didn’t quite touch on, or go into much depth, and that would be slave revolt or mutiny. Author Snelgrave explains that “several voyages proved unsuccessful by mutinies.”# As author Snelgrave states upon ““what induced them (the African slaves) to mutiny? They answered, “I was a rogue to buy them, in order to carry them away form their own country, and that they were resolved to regain their liberty if possible.”# Author Snelgrave states, “They had forfeited their freedom before I bought them, either by crimes or by being taken in war, according to the custom of their country, and they now being my
As eighteenth century progressed, the british colonists treated bonded men and women with ever greater severity. They also corralled the Africans behavior and past from them every conceivable advantage of labor and creativity, often through unimaginable mental and physical cruelty. Slaveholding attracted the European colonists but...
The concept of slavery was accepted as a part of the culture and even in the fields of Isseke, Africa slaves were put to work. “Sometimes indeed, we sold slaves to them, but they were only prisoners of war, or such among us as had been convicted of kidnapping or adultery, and some other crimes, which we esteemed heinous.” (38)
Though the Atlantic Slave Trade began in 1441, it wasn’t until nearly a century later that Europeans actually became interested in slave trading on the West African coast. “With no interest in conquering the interior, they concentrated their efforts to obtain human cargo along the West African coast. During the 1590s, the Dutch challenged the Portuguese monopoly to become the main slave trading nation (“Africa and the Atlantic Slave Trade”, NA). Besides the trading of slaves, it was also during this time that political changes were being made. The Europe...
Slavery has been used throughout history but the African slave trade of the seventeenth and eighteenth century is the most brutish known to history. It was unique in three major ways. The amount of slaves being traded was tremendous. More than eleven million African slaves were “shipped” to the New World between 1519 and 1867. Of these eleven million, only 9.5 million reached the sure because of disease and extremely poor traveling accommodations.
Slaves and slave trade has been an important part of history for a very long time. In the years of the British thirteen colonies in North America, slaves and slave trade was a very important part of its development. It even carried on to almost 200 years of the United States history. The slave trade of the thirteen colonies was an important part of the colonies as well as Europe and Africa. In order to supply the thirteen colonies efficiently through trade, Europe developed the method of triangular trade. It is referred to as triangular trade because it consists of trade with Africa, the thirteen colonies, and England. These three areas are commonly called the trades “three legs.”
One of the major questions asked about the slave trade is ‘how could so Europeans enslave so many millions of Africans?” Many documents exist and show historians what the slave trade was like. We use these stories to piece together what it must have been to be a slave or a slaver. John Barbot told the story of the slave trade from the perspective of a slaver in his “A Description of the Coasts of North and South Guinea.” Barbot describes the life of African slaves before they entered the slave trade.
In, conclusion the experiences of Equiano’s servitude in Africa differed from his experience in England. The African slave trade primarily was based upon providing jobs to families or punishment to real criminals. Many times the cruel example of being kidnapped from your village and forced into this way of life was also prevalent. This narrative contains the terrifying events of a young a child being held captive. The sources we have of the truth from this period of time are limited and hard to obtain. Servitude still exists to today in many parts of Africa and will remain a common part of their
The formation of the Atlantic slave trade did distinguish the difference between the societies’ of slaves. Berlin quotes, “In societies with slaves, slavery was just one form of labor among many” as well as “these societies were built on labor and how one should live”. The sellers or the businessmen of the trade made slaves work harder, driving their proprietors to new, already unheard of the status of wealth and power to gain financial
...nd contrasting points of African kings. While they both approved the use of slaves, Mbemba despised the slave trade and coaxed Portugal’s royalty into ending the entire business for the benefit of his nation. The king of Ouidah however seemed adamant about getting rid of his slaves in the trade without regard to how the slaves were being treated or how it affected his country. The mixed opinions on the slave trade and the identical thoughts of slavery during the 17th century allows one to see the varying notions the two issues had on the kings in Africa.
The Atlantic slave trade was the largest and longest ongoing international voyage in human history. Taking place as early as the 1440’s, the slave trade gives valuable account for the trade in slaves from various parts of the world. The author gives a regulation from West Africa to as far as the Arabic region along southern parts of the Mediterranean Sea into a lesser degree talks about the Arabic slave trade in East Africa, this period profound economic, social, political, cultural, religious, and military change. I strongly agree with how the authors attempted to explain the circumstances under which the African enslavement occurred in Africa through the dismay Middle Passage and sale of the slaves in America. A brief introduction to the Slave trade was in the 1502, the first African slaves were taken to Hispaniola. In 1888, Brazil became the last nation in the western Hemisphere to outlaw slavery. For the nearly 400 years in between, slavery played a major role in linking the histories of Africa, North and South America, and Europe. Johannes Postma begins with an overview and a detail explanation of the 5 most important aspects of the Atlantic Slave Trade. First was the capture of slaves and the Middle Passage, the identities of the enslaved and their lives after captured, the economics of the slave trade, the struggle to end slavery, and the legacy of t...
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.
The concept of the slave trade came about in the 1430’s, when the Portuguese came to Africa in search of gold (not slaves). They traded copper ware, cloth, tools, wine, horses and later, guns and ammunition with African kingdoms in exchange for ivory, pepper, and gold (which were prized in Europe). There was not a very large demand for slaves in Europe, but the Portuguese realized that they could get a good profit from transporting slaves along the African coast from trading post to trading post. The slaves were bought greedily by Muslim merchants, who used them on the trans-Sahara trade routes and sold them in the Islamic Empire. The Portuguese continued to collect slaves from the whole west side of Africa, all the way down to the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa), and up the east side, traveling as far as Somalia. Along the way, Portugal established trade relations with many African kingdoms, which later helped begin the Atlantic Slave Trade. Because of Portugal’s good for...
The first leg of the journey was from Europe, mainly Portugal to Africa. Many of the goods produced in Europe were not available in Africa or America. The Europeans traded manufactured goods, including weapons, guns, beads, cowrie shells (used as money), cloth, horses, and rum to the African kings and merchants in return for gold, silver and slaves. Africans were seen as very hard workers who were skilled in the area of agriculture and cattle farming. They were also used to the extreme temperatures that people of lighter complexions could not bear. There had always been slavery in Africa amongst her own people, where men from different tribes/villages would raid other villages to kidnap the women for their pleasures, and the men to use as slaves. To learn that they could actually profit from this activity made the job of getting slaves very easy for the Europeans. Slaves acquired through raids, were transported to the seaports were they were help prisoner in forts until traded.