Slavery In The Atlantic World

Slavery in the Atlantic World

Slavery is a system that has been present in the world for centuries, dating back to Roman and the early medieval period. At one point in history, every part of the world has been connected to slavery in some way. Most notably though, is the Atlantic slave trade between the French, British and Iberian powers and their colonies. Millions of people’s lives were shaped by the crisscrossing social, economic, political and cultural relationships between Africans, Europeans, and indigenous Americans. Slavery is a wicked and dehumanizing act, but some of the Atlantic countries were harsher than others. Of the French, British, and Iberian slave conditions, the Iberian system provided more freedoms than the other systems. …show more content…
Some Englishmen however, chose to purchase slaves and rely on slave labor to cultivate their crops and maintain their fields, as well as doing any kind of labor needed. The Englishmen chose to import African slaves because although they had to buy them outright, they didn’t have to pay them as they would indentured servants, and they could buy in quantity. Having slaves became more popular in Britain and its colonies because you get more work done, but at half the price. It’s kind of like the idea of quantity over quality. The British could have 100 slaves for the price of one indentured servants, and have 100 times more work done than they could have with the servant. This seemed like a smart idea, so it became more popular and more slaves were being imported form the Atlantic slave trade. The British were trading these people as if they were objects or cattle but as this trade became more popularized though, a peculiar idea started to arise from both sides of the Atlantic, which was the notion that slavery was an institution that was wrong and ought to be abolished. As this popularized idea began to spread, it started things such as the abolition and anti-slavery movement. These movements gained momentum and paved the way for the Somerset case which was a historic and endearing moment in these movements. The Somerset case stated …show more content…
The French had widespread brutality against the slaves, and had few manumissions. Even the few manumissions that they did, were strictly regulated and tried to restrict the right to manumit slaves in the first place. In the French colonies, the number of slaves outnumbered the colonist. Sometimes the French bought slaves, merely as a status symbol to show their wealth, treating them as if they were property. This large number of slaves prompted the king to issue the code noir. The code noir is slave code to regulate the slaves. The code had strict marriage regulations, stating everyone had to be catholic and follow the catholic way of life. The slaves needed permission from their master to do just about anything, and they were not permitted to sale anything or carry weapons. Slaves weren’t allowed to work in government, or own anything that was not given to them by their master. The code noir had many things that they did and did not permit the slaves to do, but the code noir also stated that masters weren’t allowed to abuse their slaves and that they were responsible for their slave’s actions. The masters were allowed to beat, whip, and brand their slaves but they were not allowed to kill them. Although, if a slave bruised their master, they could be persecuted. The slaves weren’t considered as citizens, and didn’t have the same rights as them, but they would be prosecuted as if they