Atlantic Slave Trade Essay Sample

📌Category: History, Slavery, Social Issues
📌Words: 729
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 05 June 2022

The Americas joined the global commerce network between 1450 and 1750 as a result of the Columbian Exchange. As a result, Africans were compelled to migrate to the New World to work on sugar plantations, causing societal structures to shift. All of these developments influenced the development of the Atlantic trade and the civilizations that took part in it. The mobility of people, changes in income, and compelled labor were among the changes that occurred.

One of the impacts of the Atlantic trade on participating civilizations between 1450 and 1750 was the migration of people. Foreigners arrived and brought slaves, either forcibly or via trade. In document 8, for example, Olaudah Equiano mentions being abducted in his own house with his sister and then being put aboard a ship. This demonstrates that the slaves were not just purchased by foreigners, but were also abducted by force. According to the paper, Olaudah says, "In an instant, they took us both and rushed away with us." In other words, when foreigners arrived, they forcibly removed people from their houses and transported them aboard ships to become slaves.  Document 7 shows a chart of the Atlantic Trade routes between 1650 and 1750, which is another example of foreign people pouring in. This map depicts the linkages between different worlds that allowed foreigners to enter and extend the slave trade. Slaves were transported from Africa to North America, as indicated by the arrow on the map. In other words, when foreigners arrived, they abducted local people from their homelands and transported them to North America, where they became slaves and worked for the foreigners.

A shift in wealth was another effect of the Atlantic trade on participant civilizations between 1450 and 1750. Taxes were raised, and merchants profited as a result. In document 3, for example, an unnamed counselor to the king of France suggests that to increase profits, France should tax more aggressively, as neighboring countries do. This reveals that France opted to raise taxes because they needed more money. According to the paper, the king's counsel advises, "raise the amount of money in public commerce." In other words, because the Atlantic trade brought in new things, kingdoms sought to capitalize on the situation by increasing their riches through taxing. Another example according to document 5, of how the  Atlantic trade allowed a change of income for the people was how the merchants gained profit. Merchants prospered because they participated in the Atlantic trade. Furthermore, merchants gained more profit because they were able to provide the resources need to impact the Atlantic trade and profit greatly.

Lastly, one of the effects of the Atlantic trade on participating civilizations between 1450 and 1750 was coerced labor which sometimes led to the death of some slaves. African indigenous people were exploited as a source of cheap labor. Document 1 For example, discusses how Europeans developed sugar and coffee plantations, resulting in the slavery of indigenous peoples to provide more employees. This illustrates that as a result of European migration, there was an increase in cash crops, which eventually led to the sale of indigenous people. According to the document “America has been depopulated so as to have land on which to plant them; Africa has it been depopulated to have the people to cultivate them” To elucidate, America's native lands were purged of its peoples to offer the necessary land agricultural productivity, which resulted in the slavery of African natives as a result of the increasing need for cheap labor to work the cash crop fields. Document 4, for example, illustrates how Indians toiled in mines and the severe labor conditions. This emphasizes that as the need for miners rose, so did the disregard for the slaves' health. As addressed in the document “ After each has eaten his ration they climb up the hill each to his mine and go in staying there for the hour until Saturday evening without coming out of the mine their wives bring them food but they stay constantly underground” In other words, the slaves died as a result of the severe conditions they were exposed to whilst also being compelled to work.

In conclusion, the Effects of the development of the Atlantic trade and its impact on the participating civilizations from 1450-1750 consisted of the mobility of people as shown in document 8 by way of Olaudah Equiano along with Document 7 and the map presented, changes in income as presented in document 3 by way of the advisor to the king along with document 5  and compelled labor were among the changes that occurred which is presented by documents 1 and 4  in which they discuss in detail the coercion that the slaves went through and the harsh conditions.

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