Slave Trade free essay sample

The slave trade was conducted by the Europeans in order to raise their profit of sugar plantation, and they cornered Africans into a harsh situation during and after the voyage. From the early 1 asss to the early 1 asss, the Europeans increasingly bought slaves from Africans who needed weapons and other food supplies for their ongoing wars. To maximize the profit, the captains of slave ships wanted to carry as many healthy slaves for as little cost as possible by choosing either a loose or a tight packing system. From the 1 COOS to the mid 1 odds about 12 million black slaves were shipped from Africa to the Western World, enduring brutal and crowded conditions which caused the slaves to have a horror of death and diseases. Approximately 2 million blacks died during the journey, about 65 percent of them were transported to sugar colonies like Brazil and Cuba, and about 6 percent of the black slaves were sent to North America. We will write a custom essay sample on Slave Trade or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Slavery became widespread in South America as well as in other sugar colonies.Slaves in Latin America were maltreated since the welfare laws that were enacted to protect the slaves were poorly enforced. However, slaves in the united States generally had a utter life than those in South America, even though slavery there was also as cruel as it was in Latin America. All in all, Africans had to suffer from inhumane conditions without the protection of laws on the way to America and after the long voyage, just for the sake of the white peoples profit. Part 2: Why was so indifferent to the agony of people who were discriminated against even though I myself am a visible minority?This was the first question that popped into my mind after the last groups presentation. To be honest, have always had a horror of being discriminated against by racists. However, I only cared about my own problem. I was completely ignorant about other people who were maltreated and their miserable history. This topic, the history of African slaves, would not interest me at all unless I had the opportunity to learn about it in class. Therefore, there were many new facts did not know before doing this activity since my understanding of slavery was only superficial.One new fact was that the slave trade had been conducted since ancient times. Another new fact was that the majority of black slaves worked on sugar plantation. I could also learn about the Bureau of refugee and abandoned lands, which helped the African slaves resettle by offering hem food and other supplies and setting up hospitals and schools. Other than these three facts mentioned above, found it interesting that Harriet Tuba, a well-known leader who aided African slaves to escape, was once a slave herself.The reason why was impressed by her was that she never gave up helping people live better lives despite her condition of being a female slave. She escaped from slavery and escorted slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad. Not only that, she raised money to educate black people, assisted the elderly and the needy African Americans, and contributed to the improvements in the rights of women. Her story taught me a lesson that can overcome any obstacle and do something for people around me as long as I do not give up. Thanks to the efforts of people like Harriet Tuba, slavery could be banned. Abolition of slavery played a significant role in actualization the principle of equal treatment of persons irrespective of not only races but also gender and religion. It has had a positive impact on society in that people started to understand it was important to support and respect diversity. However, think other forms of discrimination still remain: age, appearance, social standing, sexual orientation, intelligence, ethnicity, and so on. Furthermore, even now, there are people who suffer from a similar type of treatment as Africans did.For example, North Korean defectors who are repatriated to their country are enduring a tough life. They are segregated from other people and work like slaves since they were sentenced to do forced labor for the rest of their lives. This is because they have different political views and had tried to escape from North Korea. If they violate the rules made by the Communist party, they are at a risk of execution. In my opinion, it is time for us to give people ho are discriminated against continued interests.Discriminated people are all people like us, and there is no reason for them to be treated like that. We have the words to change our society and the power to rewrite our history. To let the world know about these people and to raise awareness, we can start from a little thing such as joining a school social justice club. As Mahatma Gandhi said, The only difference be;en man and man all the world over is one of degree, and not of kind, even as there is between trees of the same species. Where in is the cause for anger, envy or discrimination? Slave Trade free essay sample Colonialism and Imperialism are one of the core foundations of the Atlantic Trade System that occurred between the 14th and 19th centuries. Colonialism is the process of a group of external settlers, in this case settling in Africa and claiming the land for their own. Colonialism is the control or governing influence of a nation over a dependent country, territory, or people. Colonialism refers to the set of practices and policies implemented by the imperial agents to obtain and maintain control, stability, economic objectives, and social engineering in the constituent polities of the imperial periphery. G. 12) Imperialism is a policy of extending control or authority over foreign entities as a means of acquisition and/or maintenance of empires, either through direct territorial conquest or through indirect methods of exerting control on the politics and/or economy of other countries. Most subsequent definitions Of imperialism agree that it refers to an ideology or set Of doctrines, that it implies domination that it reflects international affairs, and it involves actions and ideas in support of expansionism and the maintenance of empire. We will write a custom essay sample on Slave Trade or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page (Peg. 7 Modern Imperialism and Colonialism).Imperialism and alongside facilitated both the general and the regional effects of the sugar revolution, while at the same time the sugar revolution helped to shape the direction of imperialism and colonialism in new ways. The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade took place across the Atlantic Ocean from the 16th through to the 19th centuries. The vast majority of slaves transported to the New World were Africans from the central and western parts of the continent, sold by Africans to European slave traders who then transported them to North and South America.The numbers were so great that Africans who name by way of the slave trade became the most numerous Old-World immigrants in both North and South America before the late eighteenth century. The Portuguese were the first to engage in the New World slave trade, and others soon followed. Slaves were considered cargo by the ship owners, to be transported to the Americas as quickly and cheaply as possible, there to be sold to labor in coffee, tobacco, cocoa, cotton and sugar plantations, gold and silver mines, rice fields, construction industry, cutting timber for ships, and as house servants.The Triangular Trade is a route to chive slaves . It got its name from the three routes that formed a triangle. The first route carried fish, lumber, and other goods from New England to the West Indies. In the West Indies they picked up sugar and molasses which is a dark brown syrup product made from sugar cane. This was used to makes rum. From the West Indies merchants carried the rum, along with guns, gunpowder, and tools to West Africa. Here, they traded these items for slaves; they carried the slaves to the West Indies where they were sold.Traders would take the profits and buy more molasses. The transportation of black Africans to the Americas was known as the Middle passage because it was the middle leg of the Triangular Trade route used by the European merchants. The slaves were treated so harshly that some of them din t make it to the West Indies. Traders were so greedy that they wanted to bring as many slaves as possible. The slaves were chained and crammed together below the deck. There was hardly any sitting room or standing room. The slaves even have fresh air.The air was so stifling that some suffocated to death. Others tried to starve themselves to death or jump over board. Most died from diseases. Aloud Equation vividly recounts the shock and isolation that he felt during the Middle Passage to Barbados and his fear that the European slavers would eat him. Soon, to my grief, two of the white men offered me eatables and on my refusing to eat, one of them held me fast by the hands and laid me across the windlass and tied my feet while the other flogged me severely. Had never experienced anything of this kind before.If I could have gotten over the nettings, would have jumped over the side, but I could not. The crew used to watch very closely those of us who were not chained down to the decks, lest we should leap into the water. I have seen some of these poor African prisoners most severely cut for attempting to do so, and hourly whipped for not eating. (Narrative 3) Slaves were mainly transported to work on plantations and work hard labor all year long. The sugar revolution and the Atlantic Slave Trade led to about 2. 5 million slaves being transported to the new world.As the result of the Atlantic plantation colonies, sugar had been exported to Europe as a luxury item since the last four decades on the fifteenth century. Sugar was very popular at the time and was used for many other resources such as medicines, sugar sculptures and tea. In 1550, only he rich could afford sugar and it was a luxury. By 1 750, the poorest farmers wife took sugar in her tea. With the mass production of imported sugar from the Caribbean, by 1800, 18 lbs. Of sugar per person was being consumed per year. 86) By 1 600 approximately 30,000 African slaves labored in Brazil. More slaves were imported to Brazil than any other locations in the Americas. The particular needs of sugar production help explain in the need for such vast quantities of labor in Brazil. Once planted, the first crop takes between 15 and 18 months to mature, after which the 10;foot stalks are cut back for harvest. African slaves were to work in harsh conditions with little food under the hot beaming sun. The sugar stalks takes nine months to grow back. 91 ) The British had a huge success obtaining huge amounts of profits the Atlantic Slave trade and with the middle passage. Spain obtained gold and a large amount of money and so, everyone wanted a piece. Imperialism was the motivation for more. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, mercantilism was the dominant economic theory guiding most European states. Itself a symptom of the increasing competition in Europe, mercantilism s a set of theories preached that nations competed against each other in the economic as well at the political realm. 79) The waging of war against an enemy had already begun, warfare. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, such theft was authorized and supported by Spains rivals as legitimate tool of the state. What Spain saw as blatant piracy, its rivals saw as an acceptable means by which undermine the power of the Spanish Empire. These thieves were known as corsairs or privateers. As corsairs, civilians were granted licenses to plunder any and all Spanish shipping on the seas, opposed in retaliation for Spanish acts of war on land. (peg. 0) These pass events are extremely important because it molded our future. Things wouldve been very different if slaves were never captured and put to work hard labor in the sugar plantations. Europeans would have never produced crops or gain money from them. Sugar wouldnt have been so popular and maybe consume less. Europe would have not made massive amounts of money and profits they made from the slaves and the cash crops in the Caribbean. If slaves were never taken in the first place, maybe Africa wouldnt have been in such poverty this modern day. Slave Trade free essay sample Some West Africans mined gold, salt, iron, copper or even diamonds. African art was primarily religious, and each community had artisans skilled at producing works that would please the tribal gods. The center of African life in ancient and modern times is the family. Since Africans consider all individuals who can trace roots to a common ancestor, this family often comprised hundreds of members. Like Native American tribes, there is tremendous diversity among the peoples of West Africa. Some traced their heritage through the fathers bloodline, some wrought the mothers. Some were democratic, while others had a strong ruler. Most African tribes had a noble class, and slavery in Africa predates the written record. The slavery known to Africans prior to European contact did not involve a belief in inferiority of the slaves. Most slaves in West Africa were captured in war. Although legally considered property, most African slaves were treated as family members. We will write a custom essay sample on Slave Trade or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Their children could not be bought or sold. Many achieved high honors in their communities, and freedom by manumission was not uncommon. Plantation slavery was virtually unknown on the African continent. The impending slave trade brings ruin to West Africa. Entire villages disappear. Guns and alcohol spread across the continent. Tribes turn against other tribes as the once-fabled empires fade into history. The Diaspora of African peoples around the world had begun. Two by two the men and women were forced beneath deck into the bowels of the slave ship. The packing was done as efficiently as possible. The captives lay down on unfinished planking with virtually no room to move or breathe.Some will die of disease, some of starvation, and some simply of despair. This was the fate of millions of West Africans across three and a half centuries of the slave trade on the voyage known as the middle passage. I Slaves were fed twice daily and some captains made vain attempts to clean the hold at this time. Air holes were cut into the deck to allow the slaves breathing air, but these were closed in stormy conditions. The bodies of the dead were simply thrust overboard. Upon reaching the West Indies, the slaves were fed and cleaned in the hopes Of bringing a high price on the block.Those that could not be sold were left for dead. The slaves were then transported to their final destination. It was in this unspeakable manner that between ten and twenty million Africans were introduced to the New World. When immigrants reach a new land, their old ways die hard. This has been the case with most immigrant groups to the New World. The language, customs, values, religious beliefs, and artistic forms they bring across the Atlantic are reshaped by the new realities of America and, in turn, add to its fabric. The rich traditions ofAfrica combined with the British colonial experience created a new ethnicity the African American. Much controversy arises when attempts are made to determine what African traditions have survived in the New World. Hundreds of words, such as banjo and okra are part of American discourse. Song and dance traditions comparable to African custom were commonly seen in the American South. Much of African history is known through oral tradition. Folk tales passed down through the generations on the African continent were similarly dispatched in African American communities.Many devout British colonists saw conversion of slaves to Christianity as a divine duty. Consequently, the Christian religion was widely adopted by slaves. The practice of Christianity by slaves differed from white Christians. The religious beliefs Of many African tribes merged with elements Of Christianity to form voodoo. There were many changes throughout Africa and even America that were caused by slave trade. Today, American students are taught most of the positive effects towards the English, but they dont tell us about the horrible effects slave trade had on Africans.