Slavery has been a part of human history since the beginning of time. It predates any known written records of Ancient civilization. The oldest civilizations know to enforce and allow slavers are, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient China, along with a few less old ones, The Roman Empire and the American Colonies to name a few. Slavery in Africa however has existed in its earliest civilizations. More than three thousand years ago, Egyptians would raid neighboring societies and take the prisoners of war as slaves. They would then buy and sell them at many sites throughout Egypt, but mainly along the Nile River. The early Egyptians were the first to leave written records of their transactions which leads many scholars to believe that this had been going on even earlier than the Ancient Egyptians. So why did people go to the slavery of humans? Besides shier laziness, it was one of the few ways a common person could become somewhat wealthy, and like in many other civilizations, wealth equals status. Slavery in Africa started as many other examples of slavery started. You have two tribes at war with each other, one wins and takes the others captive and force them to do your laborious work. These slaves had different tasks. The women would often do chores around the home or plantation, such as prepare food, wash clothes, and clean. They would also work on the agricultural crop the owner would be growing. The majority of men would typically worked in the plantations crop fields and herd animals. When the European empires started exploring, they discovered the New World, or North, Central, and South America. They settled colonies and started planting crops like tobacco and cotton. As demand quickly grew in Europe for these pr... ... middle of paper ... ...o parallel in any part of human history. And in order to truly understand how this effects Africa and its many lost generations, one must know the past, and how it came to be so one can truly know how it affects the present, and how to prevent future monstrosities like this. Throughout our history we are marked with atrocious crimes, but none worse than the horrendous act of slavery of other humans. So how was this possible? How could it have gone on for so long, and on such a scale? How did it affect the families of the time, economy and natural resources of the time? And how does it still effect the many nations today? A crime like this has no parallel in any part of human history. And in order to truly understand how this effects Africa and its many lost generations, one must know the past, and how it came to be so one can truly know how it affects the present.
Ever since there has been humanity, slavery has been a mechanism used by people in order to subjugate and dehumanize other individuals. Abina and the Important Men is a book that illustrates how slavery was still able to manifest, even after it had been abolished within British society. By enslaving young women under the false pretense that the individuals were wards, powerful African leaders and British rulers were able to maintain a social hierarchy where African women occupied the lowest rung. The trafficking of Africans through the Transatlantic Slave Trade, brought wealth to European and other western nations as well as African leaders who were willing to cooperate. Europeans, such as the Portuguese, British, and French, first began arriving to Africa in the 16th century since they were drawn by the valuable resources that could be found in coastal, African societies.
The first aspects we can analyze is the level of difference between the slavery of Africa compared to the European form of slavery. As these sources illustrate traditional African slavery was quite different on several levels compared to the European form of slavery many are familiar with. Slavery in Africa as stated before can be more closely associated with indentured servitude where the slaves were often treated as a member of the family rather than treated with brutality. According to the multiple sources discussed earlier, a prominent aspect of European slavery in Africa was to the harsh treatment and dehumanizing of its slave it order to keep them subordinate to their European captures. Historians might beg the question why was European slavery different than traditional African
The first African slaves were brought to the colony of Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. They were brought over so that they could aid the production of crops. Caucasians believed they were superior then the Africans thus making them slaves. Many believed they could profit from having slaves. Example: instead of paying someone to work the filed or do any hard labor whites used Africans as slaves. The Africans would work for free and the slave owners would save money. Realistically speaking the treatments of slaves varied from a mild mistreatment to a sadist horrific torture.
African slaves were brought to the America’s by the millions in the 17th and 18th century. The Spanish and British established lucrative slave trades within Africa and populated their new territories with captured and then enslaved Africans. The British brought the slaves to their new colonies in North America to work on the large plantations and the Spanish and Portuguese brought the slaves to South America. Slavery within North and South America had many commonalities yet at the same time differences between the two institutions.
Some present-day readers believe slavery began in Jamestown in 1619…if such readers are aware of slavery’s existence in the ancient world, the assume it had become extinct until New World plantations arose with their greed for cheap labor.
For the slaves, it definitely was not an easy life working upon the plantations what so ever, after you had finally made your long journey you would then be set into long and labour intense work unless of course you’re a female or a child. The men would work on things such as the large areas needing to be cropped harvested or anything along those lines, while the
Becoming a slave was terrible; someone was either born a slave or kidnapped. When slavery first started, white Europeans went into Africa and kidnapped African Americans. As the years went on this process became too difficult for the Europeans, so they established hundred of trading station along Africa’s West Coast. Local African rulers and black merchants delivered the captured people to the posts and them sell as slaves.
When enslaved they worked from sunrise to sundown with little to no food. They would live in shacks on the plantations and sleep on dirt floors since they had no furniture. But, depending on who they worked for the conditions varied. If they worked for a small farm the were fed well. On large plantations there were domestic slaves that worked inside the house and did house work. This job was the most sought after due to the better circumstances (Slave Life and Slave Codes).
Slavery was created in pre-revolutionary America at the start of the seventeenth century. By the time of the Revolution, slavery had undergone drastic changes and was nothing at all what it was like when it was started. In fact the beginning of slavery did not even start with the enslavement of African Americans. Not only did the people who were enslaved change, but the treatment of slaves and the culture that each generation lived in, changed as well.
Slavery became of fundamental importance in the early modern Atlantic world when Europeans decided to transport thousands of Africans to the Western Hemisphere to provide labor in place of indentured servants and with the rapid expansion of new lands in the mid-west there was increasing need for more laborers. The first Africans to have been imported as laborers to the first thirteen colonies were purchased by English settlers in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 from a Dutch warship. Later in 1624, the Dutch East India Company brought the first enslaved Africans in Dutch New Amsterdam.
Servitude is a usual part of African ritual. Tribes would often use trade to obtain slaves by going to the head chief and trading for livestock. Not only did various tribes trade with the people of their countries, but with the Europeans of other nationalities as well. There were times that tribes would go to war and keep chiefs and prisoners of war were kept as slaves, to trade with European countries. Many times slaves were sold due to being punished, or to rape and other various crimes. Some were also forced into life of captivity. It was common for young individuals to be kidnapped and taken to a home of a common family to work and serve them. Many owners would treat their slaves fairly. The masters would own a piece of property and have an apartment for their own personal family along with a home for the enslaved family. Equiano talks about how many slaves owned their own slaves in some cases. If a family was wealthy enough, they would accommodate their property, meaning the slaves. They were a part of the owner’s family and were as brutally treated comparing to slaves of the Colonial U.S.
Although the system of slavery has existed since the great ancient civilization of Egypt, Rome, Aztec, and various other countries, there was nothing ne...
According to The Growth of Slavery (n.d.), slavery in America happened when the first African slaves were brought to a North American group in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. They were brought there to help with crops like tobacco. They weren’t exactly slaves, but they weren’t free either. They were called indentured servants;
As it is stated in our history, slavery began in the early 1700’s. Former slave William J. Anderson stated in his 1857 narrative that “these facts will seem too awful to relate and there are some of the real 'dark deeds but its history, our history” ("Master/Slave" March 2007). Slavery was an abomination and needed to end. Everything was about ownership, treating slaves less than human, and knowing that you were going to live a slave and die a slave.
Throughout history, imperialism has led countries to extend their rule over weaker countries and then colonized those countries to expand their own power. Imperialism allows the ruling countries to use the weaker countries for their resources. Colonizing other countries would then lead to growth and a better reputation for the dominating country. There are many examples of imperialism throughout European history. When many European countries “scrambled” for Africa, it seemed as though Africa had no say in anything. During the 19th century, Europe found a way to use Africa for their own growth and power. Using Africa for their resources, the Europeans colonized Africa without a second thought. European imperialism in Africa had a negative impact because of social disarray, cultural loss, and death it caused.