Historical Development Of Slavery In America

The idea of slavery has been adapted in almost every society the Earth has ever seen. Slavery basically is one human being having ownership and complete control over another human being. In the United States of America, slavery played a huge role in the development and growth of the United States. The development of slavery led to the death of countless Native Americans, the abduction of millions of Africans, and a divide of the United States.
When Christopher Columbus first landed in the “New World”, he believed he had found an alternate route to India. When he and others discovered that there were already humans who lived on these lands, he called them “Indians”, thinking that he was in India, however, he instead has stumbled upon Native tribes. He and numerous other …show more content…
This seemed like a good place to be able to get more slaves to work the lands who did not have to be paid, as white workers did. Europeans soon discovered that “some West African leaders proved extremely receptive to the idea of selling other Africans into slavery for profit, so that most of the kidnapping of Africans and forcing them into bondage was actually done by other Africans, requiring even less effort on the part of whites to perpetuate the system” (American History, 2011). They also were easy to keep under control as most of the people who were abducted spoke different languages than the others that were taken with them. They also did not know the lands and could not run away as the Natives did. Eventually, laws were passed that said that African American’s were property and that they had no rights or protection. Their “masters” were allowed to do anything they wanted with their slaves, including beating, starving, raping, and humiliating them whenever they decided. However, not all “masters” were this evil. Many treated their slaves with some humanity and allowed them to live with settlers and provided food for