...11/22/08 A Block: Slavery Slaves As a Commodity The Transatlantic Slave Trade opened a global marketing system when Portugal had an importing business. The “product” of this industry was slaves from West Africa. This business did extremely well since North America, also known as the “New World”, had an unreliable work force. Before Africans were used, Europeans relied on indentured servants. They would have a sentence of about four years work with no pay after that time they had to be freed and paid to work. Other people were used as slaves such as Native Americans and Caucasians but they were killed by diseases that foreigners carried which their immune system could not handle. A lot of people feel that slavery does not exist anymore, but if slavery is making people work for little to no money and taking away some of their rights then sweat shops is slavery. In this paper, I will show how profitable the Transatlantic Slave Trade was. I will prove this first by acknowledging how many places were involved with the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Second, I will explain how other trades affected slavery. Third, I will show how we still use sweatshops as a form of slavery today. The Transatlantic Slave Trade supplied the main base of the New World’s economy. The majority ships that sailed yearly for Africa were from the city of Newport. A little over sixty percent of North American voyages that involved the Transatlantic Slave Trade were founded in Rhode Island because...
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...The Transatlantic Slave Trade took place in the Atlantic Ocean through the 15th – 19th century between America, Europe and Africa. The Trade blossomed due to the expansion of sugar production, causing a higher demand for Africans. The expansion of sugar production drove The Transatlantic Trade to prosper. But the Transatlantic Slave Trade did not begin the capturing of Africans, European were capturing Africans long before the slave traffic developed. The Portuguese were the first European that explored West Africa. When returning to Portugal they took 12 Africans as a gift back home to their king, this was one of the earliest experience of European seizing Africans. But did the transatlantic slave trade consist of European kidnapping slaves...
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...which people are held against their own will. Before new age society found a more humorous and sexual definition for the concept, slavery was and still is, in some parts of the world, humiliating. In particular, there is one which has been historically long lasting; the Transatlantic African slave trade. This long and grueling migration paved the way for new races and culture. African Americans thrive all over the world but unfortunately descendants from this race did not come to the Americas on their own free will. A world altering voyage and conquest took shape when Christopher Columbus traveled and discovered the Americas in 1492 (1). Historically true, the America’s took shape but not without risk, sacrifice, or discrimination of a divine civilization. Columbus was on venture seeking route to Asia, in turn; found an untouched land devoured by Native Americans (2). Being distracted new ideas and opportunities, he reset is path. The mark of the Columbian Exchange happened; bringing the eventual commerce of food, disease, culture, power and new races (3). All of the changes were not as promising or good. The transatlantic slave trade brought new life but also brought darker times. Columbus didn’t develop this concept, he actually adapted to it. Although, slavery in the America’s was a forced and free transition, the continent of Africa provided the part of the migrating idea: African slavery and slave trading existed long before European disclosure (4). Since the concept was...
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...The Transatlantic Slave Trade 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 came 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 South Atlantic economic system centered on making goods and clothing to sell in Europe and increasing the numbers of African slaves brought to the New World. This was crucial to those European countries which, in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, were vying with each other to create overseas empires. The evolution of slavery is crucial to understanding the importance of currently standing issues. Slavery began in 1440 when Portugal started to trade slaves with West Africa. The first Africans imported to the English colonies were also called “indentured servants” or “apprentices for life”. By the middle of the sixteenth century, they and their offspring were legally the property of their owners. As property, they were merchandise or units of labor, and were sold at markets with other goods and services. By the 17th century, Western Europeans developed an organized system of trading slaves. However...
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...English, and Spanish planters were accustomed to purchasing African Slaves. The main parts of the Atlantic trading system ill go into is West Africa and the slave trade, New England and the Caribbean, and slaving voyages. Majority of the enslaved people taken to North America originated in West Africa. Some of the main Coastal rulers served as intermediaries, as they allowed the establishment of permanent slave-trading posts in their territories and supplying resident Europeans with slaves to fill ships that stopped regularly at coastal forts. Whydah was the major slave-trading port. It was said that Whydah passed at least 10 percent of all slaves exported to the Americas, and Whydah's merchants earned substantial annual profits from the trade. The Portuguese, English, and French all established forts there. Before any Europeans could begin to acquire any cargo, they had to pay fees to Whydah's rulers. However, the slave trade brought varying consequences for the nations of West Africa. Because of the trades centralizing tendencies, it helped to create such powerful eighteenth-century kingdoms such as Dahomey and Asante. The trade disrupted original trading patterns, as goods once sent north to the Mediterranean, were redirected to the Atlantic. Agricultural production intensified, especially in the rice growing areas because of the need to supply hundreds of slave ships with food for transatlantic voyages. Prisoners of war made up the bulk...
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...both positive and negative ways. The need for African slaves for Europeans came from a demand for a labor force to work the land in the Caribbean Islands. European colonization in Africa reaches back to Ghana in the late fourteenth century. From the fifteenth century and beyond, Ghana was a major slave exporter for the Europeans to the Caribbean and Europe. In Ghana, relationships were formed with political powers to produce and maintain European slave trading posts on its coast. The African response to European colonization varied. Middle and low class Africans suffered greatly as they supplied the slave force. In contrast, Africans who held power or were wealthy profited as they provided the slaves for trade. In both the past and Achebe’s novel, European colonization in Africa was both highly demanded and discouraged. Prior to colonizing for slave trade, Ghana was known as the “Gold Coast” to the Portuguese, Dutch, British, and English. (Richard, “The Gold Coast Slave Trade”) Only gold and resources were traded between Ghana and Europe. Similar to Sierra Leone, Europeans made their way to Ghana in the fifteenth century, building fortified trading posts along the “Gold Coast”. This area was militant protected which often caused conflicts with inhabitants. Europeans formed relationships with those in political power, which allowed them to colonize parts of Ghana, and also have a consistent source to supply them with slaves. European colonization of Ghana, ripped the country...
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...Name: Shivansh Agarwal Roll no: B10031 Quiz 2 paper The picture which has been shown in the paper clearly represents that the women sitting belongs to rich family and are enjoying their time drinking tea in porcelain dishes. The tea is sweetened by sugar. The background given in the picture also gives a good idea that these women belong to rich family. The wooden equipment could be interpreted as a musical instrument which can be acquired from a foreign country. While the Chinese people would feel fear in displaying things which they would get as a part of trade or gifts Europeans were quite fond of displaying artifacts which they would acquire from different countries as a result of trade or whatever means they could, be it war or raid or exploitation of people. The porcelain dishes displayed all came from china and were synonymy as china or chinaware. The sweetener which is used to sweeten tea had come from the European colonies in America. This represents that by the seventeenth century Europeans had established their networks in all part of the world. Porcelain is a ceramic which is obtained at heating ceramics at a very high temperature around 1300 degree high enough to give it a glassy appearance and in the middle is fused with cobalt blue. Europeans were quite impressed by this blue and white mixture and thought of them as classy. Chinese Porcelain was so thin that you could see the impression of your fingers from the other side in presence of light. When Porcelain first...
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...each question has two parts. (4 points each/100 points total) Why is Africa a continent and not a country? How would you describe the size of Africa in relation to the size of the United States? Africa is a continent because it is a large land mass with many countries within it. A country is a large community with their own set of political rules that differ from other countries. Not all of Africa is governed by one government, if so that would make it a country. Africa is about 3 times the size of the United States. It is much larger than the United States. The view of Africa as a jungle is erroneous, since a jungle or forested area is not one of the continent’s major environmental features. Name two that are. 1/5th of Africa is a rainforest and 1/3rd of Africa is a desert. Africa can be discussed from either an Afrocentric perspective or a Eurocentric perspective. Give two examples of the way Africa is portrayed that support a Eurocentric perspective. A Eurocentric perspective of Africa is represented in many textbooks, media, and teachings, by not making clear that Eygpt is located in Africa is not made clear. It is typically referred to as being in the Middle East. It is even occasionally taught as a part of Western Civilizations, although Egypt is not located in the West. Another example is how the Europeans viewed Africa as not having a history before the Europeans arrived. It is similar to how America likes to believe that Columbus...
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...the earliest of times, many countries explored lands that could help them develop and expand over time. Members from the countries in the fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries had traveled to the extent that trade routes were established and it opened up the eyes of each country and their opportunities. European nations would travel to the Americas and Africa hoping to gain land and other resources, while the Americas and Africa hoped to gain resources they could use for their own gain. Resources such as plants, foods, and animals are native to different lands around the world; over time, as cultures came into contact, it was inevitable for global interactions between Europe, the Americas, and Africa to arise. Without these cultures coming into contact, the expansion of each of these countries developments would not have happened. Between the 1400’s and 1800’s, European mariners had a series of expensive voyages that took them to all the earth’s waters. These voyages helped them discover the world’s geography, but helped them gain something much more. European merchants established a network of communication, transportation, and interaction. The reason behind establishing these networks was to search for basic resources and lands to grow cash crops, establish trade routes, and to expand the influence of Christianity. One European voyage that took place was by Amerigo Vespucci. He traveled to the coast of Brazil and sailed as far south as the Rio de la Plata. Vespucci describes...
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...been fighting to end racial discrimination and attain equality and their due civil rights ever since slavery began here in the United States. Slavery started many years before the first slaves came to the United States in the year 1619. Dutch and Portuguese explorers started slavery by kidnapping men, women and children from West and Central Africa. Many Africans lost their lives during the kidnappings in the initial struggle of fighting for their freedom and to remain in their native country. It was not uncommon for the newly kidnapped African slaves to rebel and to commit suicide as well. T.L. Snyder (2010), a Professor of American Studies at California State University in Fullerton, California wrote that “from the start of the transatlantic slave trade, mariners, merchants, and masters exchanged reports of slave suicide along with their human traffic, and they noted alarmingly that captive Africans often responded to enslavement by destroying themselves.” Slavery, for hundreds of years, would cause additional loss of life and suicide resulting from the destruction to the slave’s dignity and pride, the displacement from family and country, loss of personal freedom, brutal mistreatments of rape, whipping, shackles, poor hygienic conditions and inadequate nutrition provided by clave traders and slave masters. The enduring fight and struggles to end racial discrimination plus attain equality and civil rights will continue to be an ongoing battle for existing and future...
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...The Columbian Exchange was the transatlantic trade of crops, technology, and culture between the Americas and Europe, Africa and Asia. The exchange began in 1492 with Columbus’ first voyage. There were many causes and effects of the exchange, some which had a favorable outcome but some were calamitous. The most crucial long-term effects were the exchange of products, the import of slaves, and the sub-sequential life on the continents. During the Columbian Exchange, one of the most important outcomes was the exchange of products because of the contrasting effects it had on the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia. When the Europeans came to the Americas, they brought some things that were new to the Native Americans such as, wheat, cows, horses, firearms, laws, languages and customs. Also, when the Europeans returned they brought back peanuts, pineapples, tomato, potatoes, cocoa, and tobacco. Although there were many benefits to the exchange they were far from compensated from the misery that came. Native Americans were used as forced labor before slaves were brought from Africa. Furthermore, diseases spread rapidly due to the fact that the Native Americans had no prior exposure to these diseases which made them susceptible to...
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...on the western front and wrote the book All Quiet on the Western Front, to enlist in the army. These adults “were convinced that they were acting for the best-in a way that cost them nothing” as Erich states. They viewed it as patriotic and heroic and anyone that did not enlist was looked down upon. The deep-rooted trust in their elders was undermined once they saw the atrocities of war. The rich and power hungry people who would never see the effects of war recruited these kids, whom truly didn’t know what they were getting into until it was too late. This is very similar to how slaves were treated in the transatlantic time period, which would lose their lives for the benefit of capitalist ship and business owners. These countries fighting in World War I were just as willing to ruin the lives of the youth for the sole purpose of money and power. Although, the soldiers do not really compare to slaves they, however, are similar in the fact that they were pawns that were used to improve the well being of a country. While the citizens of the countries volunteered to fight the war there was another population that was not given an...
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...Each diverse religion in existence, meant to enlighten its followers, brings a new perspective on how to live life, what to believe, and what morals to follow. Many pre-colonialist African societies, specifically Igbo and Bambara societies, could be defined by the impact of their traditional (meaning any religious belief indigenous to Africa before European arrival) religion on everyday life. Traditional beliefs in these societies were defined by polygyny and male dominance, in addition to sacrificing to divinities, fetish priests, and medicine men. Although Islam had roots in Africa before the beginning of colonialism, the introduction of the transatlantic slave trade and the start of Islam social movements began a new campaign toward religious reform in Africa. The novel Segu by Maryse Conde, shows how these Islamic movements brought both hope and fear into the lives of the men and women in the Bambara society. In particular, this new emphasis on Islam brought fear into the lives of many women; fear of leaving the traditions they had followed their whole lives. Whereas Segu focused on changes, The Concubine, by Elechi Amadi, took a more timeless approach, focusing solely on the traditional religion of the Igbo society and its effects. Although these novels are very different, each author effectively shows the significant social, emotional, and physical effects of religion particularly on the lives of women in both the Igbo and Bambara societies. The Concubine, provides...
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...Eduardo Angeles History 202A – 02 Dr. Dennis Freed Slaves As a result of the transatlantic slave trade coming to an end and the efforts of the American Colonization Society; the country of Liberia was founded by former slaves who were seeking settlement in Africa. Before the 1830s, those white Americans willing to contemplate an end to bondage almost always coupled calls for abolition with the colonization of freed slaves— their deportation to Africa, the Caribbean, Or Central America. In 1816, the proponents of this idea founded the American Colonization Society, which promoted the gradual abolition of slavery and the settlement of black Americans in Africa. It soon established Liberia on the coast of west Africa, an outpost of American influence whose capital, Monrovia, was named for Pres. James Monroe. (Foner, GML, 444) In the years preceding the Civil War, thousands of black Americans went to Liberia. Many of them were slaves emancipated by their owners on the condition that they depart, while others left voluntarily motivated by desire to spread Christianity in Africa or to enjoy rights denied them in the United States. (Foner, GML, 444) The ACS’s reasons for working to bring a halt to the slave trade had to deal with a humanitarian, social, and religious basis. Once the slave trade had ended, there was somewhat of a stigma that led people to believe that freed blacks in America were potentially harmful and dangerous for others. It was believed that...
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...supply than was available through the importation of European servants and irregularly supplied African slaves. At first the Dutch supplied the slaves, as well as the credit, capital, technological expertise, and marketing arrangements. After the restoration of the English monarch following the Commonwealth (1642-60), the King and other members of the royal family invested in the Company of Royal Adventurers, chartered in 1663, to pursue of the lucrative African slave trade. That company was succeeded by the Royal Africa Company in 1672, but the supply still failed to meet the demand, and all types of private traders entered the transatlantic commerce. Between 1518 and 1870, the transatlantic slave trade supplied the greatest proportion of the Caribbean population. As sugarcane cultivation increased and spread from island to island--and to the neighboring mainland as well--more Africans were brought to replace those who died rapidly and easily under the rigorous demands of labor on the plantations, in the sugar factories, and in the mines. Acquiring and transporting Africans to the New World became a big and extremely lucrative business. From a modest trickle in the early sixteenth century, the trade increased to an annual import rate of about 2,000 in 1600, 13,000 in 1700, and 55,000 in 1810. Between 1811 and 1870, about 32,000 slaves per year were imported. As with all trade, the operation fluctuated widely, affected by regular market factors of supply and demand as well as the...
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