The Atlantic Slave Trade was a horrific time in our societies past. It was basically as you could say, a forced migration of twelve to fifteen million Africans for normal American needs and labor. This whole slave trade started way back in the fifteenth century and lasted all the way up until 1808 when they prohibited the importation of slaves and made it official in the United States Constitution.
The way that people ended up with slaves is actually a funny and ironic story. The West Coast Africans would meet with the chiefs of the villages and negotiate a deal. If the chiefs agreed, the Africans would send out raides to kidnap other Africans to be sold to the Europeans. In exchange of giving the Europeans slaves, they gave them goods and …show more content…
In the United States, the owners of the slaves were lazy and self centered. They didn’t want to get their hands dirty and do their own work, so they bought African slaves to do it for them. Americans didn’t treat their slaves all that well either. When the slaves would do something that their owners didn’t like, the owners would punish them by whipping, shackling, beating, branding and imprisonment. They also do things to them that lead to death such as hanging, burning and mutilation.
There was a lot of people who took a part in this whole forced migration such as the Caribbean, Brazil and the United States. Also, there were seven main European nations involved in the slave trading program as well. Which includes Portugal, Spain, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Denmark and …show more content…
Now, life on the slave ships were pitiful and uncalled for on so many reasons. The slaves often had really bad physical and mental health. When they boarded the ship, they had to take off all of their clothes and be examined from head to toe such as prisoners do today. Families were separated and you couldn’t see your significant other anymore. The men were packed like sardines below the deck and were secured by leg irons and chains. It was such a tiny place that they were forced to crouch or lie down; they couldn’t even stand up. Now for the women and children, they were kept somewhere else, but sometimes would be let above deck to have room to breathe. Which that still wasn’t good for them, because then that exposed them to more violence and sexual abuse from the crew on the ship. Life on the ship was rough for everyone, including the crew. There were a lot of epidemics break through with fever, dysentery and smallpox. All of this happened for two months or longer. Whenever one of the slaves would die from the horrible conditions, they would just be thrown overboard like they were never a person. The survival rates in the 1750s stated that one in five Africans on the ship would die. From that point on, the ship carried a surgeon with them to not only help with the crew but also to help with the slaves. This changed the rate all the way to one out
The way that people ended up with slaves is actually a funny and ironic story. The West Coast Africans would meet with the chiefs of the villages and negotiate a deal. If the chiefs agreed, the Africans would send out raides to kidnap other Africans to be sold to the Europeans. In exchange of giving the Europeans slaves, they gave them goods and …show more content…
In the United States, the owners of the slaves were lazy and self centered. They didn’t want to get their hands dirty and do their own work, so they bought African slaves to do it for them. Americans didn’t treat their slaves all that well either. When the slaves would do something that their owners didn’t like, the owners would punish them by whipping, shackling, beating, branding and imprisonment. They also do things to them that lead to death such as hanging, burning and mutilation.
There was a lot of people who took a part in this whole forced migration such as the Caribbean, Brazil and the United States. Also, there were seven main European nations involved in the slave trading program as well. Which includes Portugal, Spain, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Denmark and …show more content…
Now, life on the slave ships were pitiful and uncalled for on so many reasons. The slaves often had really bad physical and mental health. When they boarded the ship, they had to take off all of their clothes and be examined from head to toe such as prisoners do today. Families were separated and you couldn’t see your significant other anymore. The men were packed like sardines below the deck and were secured by leg irons and chains. It was such a tiny place that they were forced to crouch or lie down; they couldn’t even stand up. Now for the women and children, they were kept somewhere else, but sometimes would be let above deck to have room to breathe. Which that still wasn’t good for them, because then that exposed them to more violence and sexual abuse from the crew on the ship. Life on the ship was rough for everyone, including the crew. There were a lot of epidemics break through with fever, dysentery and smallpox. All of this happened for two months or longer. Whenever one of the slaves would die from the horrible conditions, they would just be thrown overboard like they were never a person. The survival rates in the 1750s stated that one in five Africans on the ship would die. From that point on, the ship carried a surgeon with them to not only help with the crew but also to help with the slaves. This changed the rate all the way to one out