Essay On Transatlantic Slave Trade

Did the discovery of the New World make the world a better place? During the discovery of the New World and colonization of the Americas, the world was not a better place. This discovery it led to catastrophic events occurred an exchange of diseases that resulted in a dramatic decrease in the Native American population. Because of this decrease in the Native American population, Europeans were now left without a strong source of labor which resulted in the start of the act of African slavery in the Americas. With African slavery as a source of labor, many countries were able to build their territories and wanted to gain more power in North America. This droved countries to a colonial war called the, Seven Years War or the French and Indian …show more content…
The decrease brought by disease indirectly caused a drastic labor shortage throughout the Americas, which contributed to the establishment of African slavery in the Americas. Between the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, over twelve million Africans were shipped to the Americas through the transatlantic slave trade. The transatlantic slave trade, often known as the triangular trade for its three main steps, connected the economies between the Americas, Europe, and Africa. First ships left Western Europe for Africa loaded with goods which were to be exchanged for slaves. The second step was crossing the Atlantic transporting Africans to America to be sold throughout the continent. The third step connected America to Europe; the slave traders brought back slave-produced, agricultural products. The slave trade captured, treated, and sold African men, women, and children like animals. One slave named, Olaudah Equiano, was only 11 years old when he was kidnapped and sold by traders into slavery. However, unlike many other slaves, Equiano was able to purchase his freedom. In his narrative, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, he describes the grim conditions of the transportation on ships during the triangular trade. “The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that had …show more content…
These food items were apart of the Columbian Exchange, the exchange of goods, technology, ideas, and disease. With these improved diets and new foods, society was able to have better health and cheaper food options. Major food options from the New World included: maize (corn), potatoes, cassava, and various beans and squashes. Lesser crops included sweet potato, papaya, pineapple, tomato, avocado, guava, peanuts, chili peppers, and cacao. The potato, possibly the most important new food, had a strong effect in improving the food supply and promoting the population growth in Eurasia because it provided a cheap source of food. Because of the discovery of the New World, the world’s diets were able to be improved along with the health of people. Although some believe that Christopher Columbus discovering the New World had a positive impact because it started the Columbian Exchange and a new economy, this is not a strong position due to the discovery having an overall negative outcome on other cultures such as the Native Americans and Africans. The discovery of the New World was characterized by deadly, disastrous disease, gruesome slavery, and a terrible war. Therefore making the position that Christopher Columbus discovering the New World made the world not being a better place the stronger position