A Trans-Atlantic Trade and the Rise of Slavery
A wave of Trans-Atlantic trade involving the sale of Africans as slaves was a thriving business in Europe for about 300 years. This trade, technically known as the Atlantic trade, was a government activity for a long time between 1440 and 1870. Portugal was the first country to report the first occurrence of slave trading. The Portuguese crown established the restrictions that slave voyages on Africa's west coast had to observe. The missions followed principles established by their casa da guine 'and were subject to taxation (Pulsipher, Lydia Mihelic, and CM Goodwin pg.279). Some merchants were licensed to trade in ivory and other commodities that came from their colonies (Bell, Richard 98).
The Perception of Slavery during the Colonial Period
Liberty of the slaves was deprived during the colonial period due to search for labor. Slavery was perceived as a perceptual condition during this time. That is to mean that as much as it had not been adopted to mean lifetime labor, many people perceived it in those terms. Unlike servitude, slavery did not have a specific number of years that required one to finish. The colonial period saw the complete loss of basic rights amongst the men through the slave trade. Many themes brought up during this period suggested that exercising slavery was not any different from treating men like beasts. Slave trade during the colonial period laid much emphasis on the males rather than the women as they were strong to work in various plantations and processing industries that had been developed in the US.
The Impact of Domestic Slavery
Domestic slavery created cultural, psychological and social beliefs that presented the slaves as commodities of the whites. During late 1700, the trade had resulted in the transfer of more than 500,000 enslaved African Americans and Africans from the older states to the plantations that were situated in the South (Bell, Richard 75). The situation resulted from the growing demands for the production of various farm produce in the new plantations that had been discovered in the South. During this period, the light-skinned maids became a major part of the slavery's history as they were seen as objects to satisfy sexual pleasures. The closure of the African trade in 1808 created significant effects on America's slave trade. Besides the fact that regular concerns to stop slavery had been raised during this period, the argument was not taken with much seriousness until America gained independence. According to (Roth, Cassia 232), slave trade went against the immeasurable right to liberty. The clergy also raised concerns about slavery as they viewed it as a violation of the basic rights that are accorded to the mankind. Even though many people during the 1700 opposed slavery on ideological or religious grounds, there are those that had more practical motives on why they were against the practice. The American slave market during this time had been filled by the slaves. This was taken as a threat to the country's commodities and thus need to decrease the number of slaves, was appropriate as it was seen as a measure to stabilize their products.
The Decline of Slavery and Rise of Resistance
The attacks on slavery during mid-1700 intensified because of economic retaliation between the US and England (Horne, Gerald. 124). The fact that the British controlled the entry of the slaves into America created concerns amongst the Americans on the need to stop the trade. The revolutionary quest amongst the people in the South created civil unrest and worries of a slave revolt, this made colonies enact policies against slave imports in 1760's. The outbreak of war during this period led to the end of the Atlantic slavery practice. Although some states went back to slavery after America's independence, most Americans by 1780 had stood against the vice. The Congress during late 1700 enacted legislation that ended the acts of slavery. Despite the fact that smuggling continued in some parts of the nineteenth century, the cases were quite minimal as traders resorted to domestic sources.
The Antebellum Period and the Diverse Nature of Slavery
During the antebellum period, the slaves were basically considered as property. They were exposed to large plantations a second time as the farms were revived during the nineteenth century. According to historians, the antebellum period brought up the idea of resistance and accommodation. Some, however, attribute this period to rise of capitalism that was based on harsh punishments or rewards (Davis, Matthew 65). Slavery in the Old South during this period was exceptionally diverse as the people worked in different settings. Geographical and economic factors largely shaped the lifestyles of the slaves. Issues such as the size of the plantation or the type of work that had been given to one person justified whether there was a need for more tasks or not. Due to this scenario, it was common practice to find that almost a quarter of the slaves had duties in the fields but were also carpenters, cooks or carriage drivers. The antebellum white mind did not recognize African American diversity and thus they viewed blackness as a servile condition (Davis, Matthew 141). The common belief that had been adopted both in the Northern and Southern US was that of a black worker struggling in the sun. The relationship existing between slavery and blackness formed the center stage in solidifying the belief of racism during the antebellum period. The work of the ethnologists during this period brought out racism in strong scientific discourse. During this time, the slave trade was done primarily because of the search for labor. The New Orleans markets also required women who were seen as instruments of satisfying sexual desires.
The Consequences and Abolition of Slavery
In conclusion, slavery caused adverse effects on the Africans and the African Americans. Its consequences started from the separation of families to the inhuman treatment that was subjected on the slaves. The American slavery was motivated by the need of labor to work in the various factories that processed products. Since the colonial period, slavery underwent drastic changes that were influenced by the growing need for people to work in factories and the humanitarian concerns that were being raised by various groups. America's independence facilitated the end of slavery in a major way as it enacted legislation against slavery. The end of slavery signified a new beginning for the human race as people could now be treated without any victimization.
Works Cited
Bell, Richard. "The great jugular vein of slavery: New histories of the domestic slave trade." History Compass 11.12 (2013): 1150-1164.
Davis, Matthew. "Racial Innocence: Performing American Childhood from Slavery to Civil Rights." Genre 47.1 (2014): 103-109.
Gordon, Tiye A. "The Fancy Trade and the Commodification of Rape in the Sexual Economy of 19th Century US Slavery." (2015).
Horne, Gerald. The counter-revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the origins of the United States of America. NYU Press, 2014.
Roth, Cassia. "From free womb to the criminalized woman: fertility control in Brazilian slavery and freedom." Slavery & Abolition 38.2 (2017): 269-286.
