Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Vs Modern Slavery

1122 Words3 Pages

The Trans-Atlantic slave trade was an event in which Europeans took Africans from their homes and villages and forced them onto large boats to sail to the New World. Once there, they were then forced to work on large plantations with no pay and less than adequate accommodations. These slaves faced many forms of discrimination all over the world. Modern slavery is similar yet different in some ways. The people affected by modern slavery are taken advantage of just like the slaves from Africa were. Both types of slavery, modern and primitive, have and continue to have, their many struggles. Although slavery has remarkably declined from what it used to be during the years of the Trans- Atlantic slave trade of 1450 to the 1800’s, slavery remains …show more content…

Slavery was helpful to the colonists, especially in North America due to the fact that most of the southern land of America was filled with plantations, and slaves offered a cheap source of labor for working the fields. “Slavery in America began when the first African slaves were brought to the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619, to aid in the production of such lucrative crops as tobacco.” (History Channel, 3) According to the article, Slavery in America, presented by the History Channel, slavery was brought to America specifically to help with the plantations. By the Trans- Atlantic slave trade coming to the United States and other places around the globe, it helped to grow the farming economy. Over the course of colonization, slavery obviously grew as the country did because there was a bigger demand for cheap labor. Farmers needed more people to help them as their plantations grew therefor increasing the need for slaves. As time went on in the growing colonies, slaves were reproducing. If slaves were born on a plantation they were then owned by the “master” of the plantation. This was called chattel slavery. Chattel slavery and a passion for success ultimately was one leading cause for the expansion of slavery in the growing …show more content…

The Civil War was fought because some people wanted slavery to end and others did not. After the war, slavery in America was illegal. Before the Civil War, European countries made slavery illegal. After this happened, and on to now, individuals and groups of people are still forcing people into different types of slavery. For example in areas like Africa and the Middle East, children are being forced into marriage. In many ways this could be considered slavery. Although this is different from people working on plantations and farming, it is still forcing a person to do something they do not necessarily want to. Similarly, people in today's world are being forced into domestic slavery. This could compare closely with the early institution of slavery. There are many different types of slavery still prevalent in the world today. Anti Slavery states, “The practice still continues today in one form or another in every country in the world. From women forced into prostitution, children and adults forced to work in agriculture, domestic work, or factories and sweatshops producing goods for global supply chains, entire families forced to work for nothing to pay off generational debts; or girls forced to marry older men, the illegal practice still blights contemporary world.” (Anti-Slavery International, 1) This quote details the many types of slavery that are still around in the world today. These types

Open Document