Slavery in the United States Historical Essay Example

📌Category: History, History of the United States, Slavery, Social Issues
📌Words: 1188
📌Pages: 5
📌Published: 14 June 2022

Twelve percent of slaves did not survive the Middle Passage journey from Africa to the New World. The death toll of these innocent people who became prejudiced merely because of their skin color totaled nearly 1.8 million people by the time slavery became abolished in 1865 by the United States Congress. Historians estimate that anywhere from twelve to twenty million had to say goodbye to their families, and wondered if they would ever see their loved ones again. Although these horrid acts ripped families apart, it benefited the countries economically. Because of the large demand for labor in the New World, the American people decided to take innocent people known as “slaves” and make them work without pay in the new world.  The greed for wealth drove the slave trade from Africa. Next, the need for manufactured goods contributed to the demand for slaves. Lastly, men practiced polygamy because not many women generally became slaves. 

The greediness for gold played a major role in the slave trade. The Asante, Oyo, and Benin kingdoms particularly took value in the gold. They sold off their people in order to obtain gold. The people of these kingdoms valued gold and wealth over their friends and family. They did not care what happened to the people around them. They also highly valued the arts and thought that “money [was] king” (Pollard). In certain areas of Africa, slave traders paid as much as 375 pounds per ship, which equals nearly 500 US dollars today. One ship could carry as many as thirty-eight slaves. Before this fee, they had to pay for the slave themselves and then ship them. But they made the money back and more eventually. But, Africa eventually encountered a problem. Men existed primarily as the superior slave for slave owners, so men became scarce in Africa. Although Africans sold their fellow people because of their want for gold, they also did this to get back at people who they did not like.

Because of slavery, many unenslaved men unwillingly practiced polygamy. Polygamy means that a man or woman marries more than one person at the same time. The reproduction numbers dropped before polygamy, so this action made sense, although it may not exist as morally correct. Without polygamy, the African kingdoms would have died out and left the gold that they traded for to go to waste. Although the slave trade in Africa played a major role, Europe also benefited from this cruel act (106). 

The English, French, Spain, Dutch, and Portuguese made the most out of the transatlantic trade. The Portuguese arguably brought Europe into the triangular trade system. The Portuguese opened the Atlantic Ocean, established the first overseas European empire, and started the European slave trade. Although they may have started the slave trade in Europe, they did not want the slaves. Like Africa, they wanted gold also. When the Portuguese looked for gold in Benin, it did not have enough value to them. So, they decided to look in Kongo instead. England often exported textiles, guns, beer, rum and gunpowder to Africa. Britain's exports to Africa totaled 460,000 dollars. The French also played a major role in the slave trade. French slave traders took 105,000 slaves from Africa and put them to work in the French Caribbean 

As sugar became more widely needed in the world, more slaves worked in the Caribbean to obtain sugar (128). Lastly, the Dutch also contributed to the Transatlantic slave trade. Just like the French and Portuguese introduced slaves in their respective territories, the Dutch brought slaves to the colony, now state, of Virginia. (75) But, the English and French traders soon overtook the Dutch business. Before England and France took over the slave trade, the Dutch transported over 142,000 slaves to America. Although Europe often transported slaves, central and North America ultimately benefited the most out of the transatlantic slave trade.

Although twenty-five percent of the slaves in America died in their first 18 months there, the cruel slave owners bought more to replace them if they died while either on the way or during working hours(178). Although the slave owners continued to buy these slaves after they saw others die, they felt no remorse for the slaves or the slave’s families. Cotton picking became practiced widely throughout southern North America. Although the cotton gin would eventually lessen the need for slaves, slaves forcefully picked cotton for over sixty years. The American labor market conditions caused the growth of the American slave trade. Three main commodities that America exported existed as tobacco, sugar, and of course, cotton. America may not have survived without the work of the slaves from Africa. Although slavery existed as one of the most immoral acts of all time, slaveowners tried to justify it. The effect that America had on many slaves existed as that they got ripped away from their families and forced to work on plantations in the summer weather for no pay. Slaves could not learn because their owners feared that they would try and revolt. Now, cotton had become the biggest contributor in the Americas. Besides the fact that it existed as a tremendous export, cotton gave a new type of value to southern lands that had fertile soil. People who aspired to be slave owners paid large amounts of money to obtain enough land for a plantation. 

Because most of the major transatlantic slave trade took place during the Industrial Revolution, demand for cotton rose to an all-time high. Cotton became essential for clothing, as it became more comfortable than their previous choice of clothing. But, slave owners in the south and clothing industries did not exist as the only two parties that benefited from slavery. Banks in the north, shipping merchants, and the textile industry in Great Britain all benefited from slavery. So, as the demand for cotton went up, so did the demand for slaves. 

As stated previously, Great Britain benefited from slavery in America. Although Great Britain did practice slavery also, slavery became abolished in 1800 there. So, during the last years of the Industrial Revolution, Great Britain highly relied on American slaves. America also supplied Britain with 80 percent of its cotton production. The United States pumped out so many commodities during the industrial revolution because of the number of slaves they had. But, the slave owners did not see the slaves as human, they saw them as property. Today, people take for granted work for pay, but the slaves had no choice. Not once did people in the 1700s think to pay the slaves. The year 1831 started the resistance against slavery. The reason why many Americans did not want to stop slavery existed because America profited so much from slavery. Just because something works well does not mean it exists as a good thing. 

The Transatlantic slave trade impacted the lives of many Africans, Americans, Native Americans and Europeans. The American people needed slaves to work on plantations, and as a result, a system known as the Transatlantic slave trade system started. African kingdoms went as far as to sell their people off to satisfy their greed for gold. Next, the rate at which manufactured goods were made affected many countries and caused them to profit off of slavery. Lastly, people who sold slaves, especially Europeans, disregarded the lives of the slaves because they did not care about the African slaves as long as they made money. Switzerland today exists as similar to slavery. Switzerland has no minimum wage, so companies take advantage of that, and do not pay their workers. For this reason, America has a minimum wage. People today will do anything to keep as much money as they can in their pocket, and that exists in Switzerland today.

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