Arguments Against African Slave Trade

Europeans, for they were their main labor source. So in a desperate attempt they turned to the next best thing, african slaves.
The word “slavery” comes from the Eastern European word “slav”. “The traditional definition of slavery was legal. Slaves were peoples’ property and could be bought and sold, traded, leased or mortgaged like a form of livestock.” Old World slavery, that was pre-European exploration, differed from New world, post- European exploration, slavery by a great deal. The percentage of slaves in the Old world was not as vast as it was in the New World. Old World slavery also was not raced based or hereditary, meaning not all of the slaves were Africans or Native Americans and their offspring were not considered slaves as well.

Infact not all slaves in the Old World stayed slaves for long, during this time they could work there way up to higher positions in the class system or even out of slavery. The Old World version of slavery was changed entirely after the desire of economic gain grew due to European exploration and the Columbian Exchange. The New World version of slavery was a lot harsher. There was a larger percentage of slaves, it was hereditary, meaning the offsprings were slaves as well, they had less freedom and rights and they had harsher living conditions. Yet the most important factor of New Word slavery had to be that it was now raced based , this meant that only people of color and other minority race groups were made into slaves. Since the Europeans had killed off half of the Native American race through murder, mutilation and harsh forced labor. The transition from Native American slaves to African slaves was quite an easy transition for money hungry Europeans to make. Infact it proved to be a very beneficial move on their behalf in many ways. Unlike the Native Americans, African slaves were immune to many European diseases, meaning that when captured and brought back to the New World to be sold as slaves, not as many of them died due to unknown viruses like the Natives. African slaves were also great farmers, this made it so much easier for the Europeans to quickly brief them on the production of sugar, tobacco, potatoes and molasses. Finally the African slaves had no ties to the New World lands, so they couldn't possibly run of and seek protections from neighboring tribes, they were essentially on their own. All of these factors made it easier for the Europeans to better control the African slaves they bought.

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

these justification were used to excuse any and all cruel and unusual treatment towards the African race throughout the 18th century.
Through 18th century explorations, Europeans became more and more infatuated with economic gain so much so that they refused to realize the impact they were leaving in the world, by the time they finally realized what they had done, it was too late. The world as Europeans knew it had been reshaped for their benefit, but the people whose rights had been taken away by slavery, had their worlds turned completely upside down. It was too late to take back all the blood the traders had on their hands due to the innocent lives they had killed or enslaved, and the desire for economic gain and power tainted an otherwise prosperous time in human history