Slavery: A Middle Passage From Africa To American Diaspora By Stephanie E. Smallwood

Slavery has existed in various forms since the beginning of time. Although there is no written record for when it began, slavery has appeared in texts ' as old as the bible. Two thousand years of turning human beings into profit. Perhaps the most notorious form of slavery, at least in the prospective of modern day Americans, is the transatlantic slave trade. Slavery was legal in the "land of the free" just 150 years ago and the ramifications of that have been evident since the abolishment of slavery in 1865. The practice of buying and selling human beings has deep roots in the very beginnings of America and cruelty of that practice remains the topic of many historical articles, books, and debates. Recently, historian David Richardson said …show more content…
Smallwood 's book "Salt Water Slavery: A Middle Passage From Africa to American Diaspora" the transatlantic slave trade is discussed in terms related to business and economic growth. The author really focuses on the data of the slave trade, presenting the readers with the stark facts of the slave trade. Drawing from ships logs, public records, and private collections, Smallwood describes the process in which humans were made into a product and how that product was sold to plantations in the Caribbean and deep cotton south. She uses a style of writing that makes the reader forget that the cargo being so frequently referenced are people who have families, friends, and communities. As you begin the book, Smallwood weaves a narrative of life in colonial Virginia, where the arrival and departure slave ships is a part of everyday life. It was normal and Smallwood drives that point home, making the reader very alert to the drastic change in mindset from the 1600 's to abolition in …show more content…
The moment a shackle is placed on someone 's wrist, that ideal withers and dies because that individual has been robbed of the very thing that makes them who they are. Many, unable to handle the weight of the shackles and what it meant for their future, chose to take their lives. One particular case involved a slave jumping into a cistern of water to drown himself. Stolen freedom led to the commoditization of Africans for the slave trade. This essay is entitled Stolen Freedom because it is the most important point when looking at the issue of slavery. These people had no choice, their freedom was stolen from them and they were forced into bondage that would enslave generations of men, women and children 's in the new world. The practice of making a profit off of people who were turned into a commodities was one of the darkest points in human