Women, Families and Communities: Chapter 2: Women and families in slavery and the slave trade A. Beginning of slavery in North America, 1619 in Jamestown B. Mid 17th century, slave trade was a major source of wealth in Europe. C. Demand for African laborers shattered families, communities, and economic and political systems in many African nations, especially in West Africa. D. Morgan demonstrates the importance of African women to the slave trade and to the development of North American slavery.
Slavery brought economic means to the South, death to hundreds of thousands of African men, women and children, as well as shape African American culture. Because of their freedom, African Americans helped shape American culture because of their various impacts on our culture; they brought jazz, the blues even rock and roll, traditions such as “jumping the broom” (as seen in wedding traditions) and Kwanza eventually made its way into American culture. Though it became a great and tragic part of history, it eventually became ‘freedom’ that our country now stands
Europe quickly became the dominant region over the economic aspects of the Columbian Exchange, however their social influence in the Americas and Africa developed slower during the time period of 1492 to 1750. In the mid-fifteenth century, European interest in Africa expanded from goods to incorporate slaves. Europeans began to take over African civilizations and keep natives as their slaves. This was not a new practice to keep war captives as slaves. However the Europeans began to export these African slaves across the globe to established colonies in both North and South America for the first time.
How significant was the slave trade in the growth of the British Empire in the years c1680-1763? The slave trade also known as the transatlantic slave trade led to the greatest forced migration of a human population in history. Millions of Africans were transported to the Caribbean, North America and South America. It is accurate to say that the slave trade played a significant role in the years 1680-1763 due to the settlement of slaves in the colonies of the Americas. At the start of the eighteenth century Britain’s colonies relied heavily on the slave trade for their economic development.
Around the late 1800’s many African slaves came to the new world, Africans became slaves either because of debts or of a religious conflicts. However, slaves were granted certain rights such as education, parenthood, and slaves could eventually work their way out of slavery. In 1492 slavery was legalized in Europe, which lead the people to trade slaves for goods or gold in Africa. Unfortunately later on a technique came upon, it was use to transport slaves to different places which was known as the Middle Passage. The middle passage lead to the death of many slaves, since slaves were being place in ships at the very bottom.
SLAVERY The practice of slavery has been in existence since prehistoric times, although advancements in agriculture made it an institution in early historical times. Slaves were needed for “various specialized functions (Nettels 98)” in these societies and were obtained through raids or “conquests of other people or within the society itself, when some people sold themselves or their family members to pay debts or were enslaved as punishment for crimes (Nettels 98)." The first African slaves that came to America landed at Jamestown, Virginia, In 1619. The number of slaves imported to the colonies was relatively small at first. Not until the development of the “plantation system” in the southern colonies in the later half of the seventeenth century, did the importation of African slaves greatly increase.With the success of tobacco planting, African Slavery was legalized in Virginia and Maryland, becoming the foundation of the Southern agrarian economy .
1518 - First boatload of slaves brought directly from Africa to the Americas Cause: Europeans accustomed to slavery were coming to the Americas. Effects: Slavery helped owners gain wealth and property. The United States grew and slavery eventually became a necessity for the Southern Plantation owners. Driven by humanitarian and economic reasons the country became divided and erupted into Civil War. Significance: Slavery brought Africans to America, challenged this country to look at all men as equals and made us leaders in the world for civil rights of mankind.
Through most of the history of farming societies, slavery has been an accepted institution. The Atlantic slave trade, which began in the 1600s, elevated (or lowered) slavery to unprecedented levels of cruelty, and thus over time turned world opinion against this ancient practice. One of the first efforts in the centuries-long campaign against slavery was The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African, the autobiography of a British subject who had spent many of his formative years as a slave. Born in the Ibo province of central Africa, Equiano was enslaved by fellow Africans in his childhood, around 1755, and shuffled through various owners before coming into European hands and being shipped to the West Indies. There, he worked briefly on a plantation before being sold to a British officer and commencing an active naval career during the Seven Years’ War and after.
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade The Atlantic slave trade began in the early sixteenth century and extended all the way to the late nineteenth century. It involved the transportation of millions of Africans to the Americas. These Africans were forced to leave their countries in order to become the slaves of the newly found American colonies. Just the journey across the seas to the America’s was highly inhumane cramming hundreds of people onto small boats. The reason that the African slaves were needed was because they were strong and good workers.
Slaves were used to aid in the production of such lucrative crops as tobacco. Slavery was practiced throughout the American colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries, and African-American slaves helped build the economic foundations of the new nation. This is an important piece of history due to the fact that slavery was created and evolved from this purchase. If slavery had not existed, the Civil War likely would not have been fought. There were other pressing issues between the North and