From Africa to Brazil is a cultural, identity and, an Atlantic slave Trade article written by Walter Hawthorne with its focus on tracing back the African Slaves in Amazonia, Brazil to their origins or ethnic group in Africa. And how the Slaves of upper Guinea contributed to the Atlantic trade exchange i.e. through the ignored fact that Africans in the trade transferred architectural aesthetic and rice-growing techniques to the new world. In this article, Hawthorne argued for the thesis question. Were the slaves traded to America from the rice producing regions of upper Guinea or not. In this article, Hawthorne examined some scholars who as written about the African slave trade with information produced from the Slave Ships record .e.g. David Eltis, Stephen Behrendt, David Richardson, and Herbert Klein’s 1999 The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and the postmodern inventory records in Maranhao from 1767 to 1832. In the course of examining the scholarly articles, Hawthorne concluded that the information in those articles didn’t give details of where precisely in Africa Slaves came from. Information recorded in the Slave …show more content…
When Slave owners died in Amazonia, custom requires descendants to make a list of all the properties and belonging of such person. This list also, includes the information of the slaves owned by the deceased. The slaves owned by the deceased were asked several questions such as: their names, ages, marital life, children, profession, values, injuries, illness and their ethnicity or where they hail from. With the information gathered, Hawthorne was able to trace the root of slaves in America to some certain parts of Africa Such as the Bight of Benin, Angola And upper Guinea. The relationship between the postmodern inventory records is in relation to locate where slave came from due to the fact that information recorded refer to the ethnic group of the slaves in
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.
The Atlantic Slave Trade affected millions of lives throughout the centuries that it existed and now many years later. It was so widely and easily spread throughout four continents and with these documents we get to read about three different people with three different point of views. A story of the life as a slave from an African American slave himself, how the slave trade was just a business from the point of view from merchants and kings, and letter from King Affonso I referring to the slave trade to King Jiao of Portugal.
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.
The novel The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano exists as an extremely important work in the abolitionist movement in England. As an 18th century narrative written by a former black slave, the novel provides a glimpse into the lives of the African slaves involved in the slave trade as well as the slave traders themselves. Even with the controversy over the authenticity of Equiano’s claims on his origin in Africa and his subsequent voyage through the Middle Passage, this novel serves as a powerfully instructive piece of literature. Throughout the novel, Equiano strives to impress upon the reader a certain set of moral standards or ideals that he desires to instruct the reader about. One such moral ideal that is prevalent throughout the entirety of the novel is Equiano’s construction of the idea of the value and worth of the African slaves, as opposed to the view of the African slaves as simply commodities or objects to be purchased and traded.
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)
Through his descriptions of his homeland and other aspects of his life, we gain insight into the state of world trade at that time. Equiano's description of his homeland exemplifies "the Columbian Exchange" in operation. First of all, Equiano discusses how planters from the West Indies preferred slaves from Benin because of their ability and hardiness. This statement illustrates the connection between the Eastern Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere. Equiano also describes some of the crops grown in his homeland.
It has been suggested that Olaudah Equiano lied about his birthplace in his The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, the African. The question of Olaudah Equiano’s birth place, whether it be modern day Nigeria or South Carolina, has little effect on the historical significance of his “autobiography.” In this essay I will discuss the reasons scholars are questioning the authenticity of his works, the affect his work played in the slave trade, and the impact this accusation has on his life’s work.
Evidence of African roots are identifiable throughout Brazil. Brazil is the second most populated country of Blacks. Many different tones from mulatto to caboclo to black are present with culture that has flourished since African slaves first arrived to the country. The slaves that came to South America, brought their religion, gods, and music along with them, giving Brazil a cultural identity and a place among other nations. The profits of African slavery have allowed Brazil to gain capital and build a government based mainly on sugar exports. Although Brazil was the first to claim themselves free of racism, throughout history they often put slaves in even worse conditions than the US. Easy accessibility to import African slaves, meant that
In the tale of the life of Olaudah Equiano, we see the progression of a man's life from childhood to slavery and onward to his freedom. Through his autobiography, Equiano narrates how European and African slave traders and owners differed in the treatment of slaves. By doing so historians are able to grasp a stronger understanding of the slave trade system as well as religion and customs of the African culture in the 18th century.
The transatlantic slave trade paved the way for mass distribution of the human civilizations strongest labor force. The thought of using other humans as a means of production was first internal only within Africa but as other nations began to witness the degradation of one race, they saw an opportunity to tap into the weakened morals of one race which in turn allowed the Africans to fall into a lower class. Thus began the dispersion of slaves to other nations needing to fill the labor gap. An event that represents the beginning moment of the trans-Atlantic slave trade within the readings arise when Equiano was on watch with one of his sisters and was kidnapped by a group of people. Ever since Equiano was kidnapped, he was sold numerous times through different masters and traveled coast to coast. Equiano also witnessed the first time in his life a slave ship that was filled with black people of every description chained together with dejection and sorrowful expressions, and it was then that he realized the future that awaits him. Through the descriptions and Equiano’s wish for his former slavery in preference to the present condition he was in, we can imagine how awful and dehumanizing the slaves were being treated on shore. According to Equiano, many of the African slaves had the unpleasant personalities and traits that were similar with the white slave owners on the ship because of the close interaction that they had with each other. According to Gomez’s Reversing Sail, the beginning moment of the trans-Atlantic slave trade occurred because “Muslim forces in al-Andalus were never in control of the entire Iberian Peninsula and were continually threatened by Christian enemies during their nearly 800-year rule” (Gomez 59). As a result, “in both Iberia and the
In the 21st century, slavery and the Atlantic Slave Trade are viewed as immoral and quite possibly the most horrifying treatment known to man by society and foreign leaders but, was the same view regarded in the 17th century? The short primary sources, “Nzinga Mbemba: Appeal to the King of Portugal”, and “Captain Thomas Phillips: Buying Slaves in 1639”, enables individuals to identify how foreign leaders, specifically the kings of African nations, conducted the issue of slavery and the slave trade. In the words of Nzinga Mbemba and Captain Phillips, the kings of Congo and Ouidah both knowingly accepted slavery in their country but, had strikingly opposing views concerning the Atlantic Slave Trade; King Mbemba prohibited the trading of slaves whereas the King of Ouidah welcomed slave trading.
Rediker, Marcus. The Slave Ship A Human History. New York, New York: Penguin Group, 2007. Print.
Slavery in Brazil began long before the first Portuguese settlement was established in 1532. Because certain forms of slavery had existed for centuries on the continent of Africa, Brazilian historians used to say that us blacks imported from across the Atlantic, were ready to accept their new status as ''Slaves''. Slave labor was the driving force behind the growth of the sugar economy in Brazil. Gold and diamond deposits were discovered in Brazil in about 1690, which sparked an increase in the importation of African slaves to power this new market. According to many depressed characteristics, Brazil is identified as a developing country, nevertheless is occupies a special place on the list of these countries. Having a huge potential and a high level of economic development, Brazil has found a place on the list of the highest slavery rates. With that being said then you could already ready conclude that there where many slaves imported to the country, Brazil. Brazil had the largest slave population in the world, substantially larger than the United States. The Portuguese who settled Brazil needed labor to work the large estates and mines in their new Brazilian colony. They turned to slavery which became central to the colonial economy. It was particularly important in the mining and sugar cane sectors. Slavery was also the mainstay in the Caribbean islands with economies centered on sugar. Estimates suggest that about 35 percent of captured Africans involved in the Atlantic slave trade were transported to Brazil. Estimates suggest that more than 3 million Africans reached Brazil, although precise numbers do not exist. Brazil had begun to turn to slavery in the 15th century as explorers began moving along the coast of Africa.
Out of the 15th century Atlantic Slave Trade, arose racial and socioeconomic problems associated with Cape Verdean interstate trade relations. The Atlantic Slave Trade proved detrimental through the introduction of slavery between the Europeans, Luso-Africans, and Creoles, the negative effects it placed on religion between Cape Verde and others on the route of the slave trade, and lastly, it also by changing perceptions of race and sexuality among blacks and whites.
There are a lot of causes of the scramble for Africa, and one of them was to ‘liberate’ the slaves in Africa after the slave trade ended. The slave trade was a time during the age of colonization when the Europeans, American and African traded with each oth...