Effects Of Slavery On West African Americans

The captives sold into the Atlantic slave trade experienced being shipped away from their homelands by way of the Middle Passage, they experienced a change in identity and they were torn away from their families, although they did create new bonds once they reached the Americas. The Atlantic Slave trade lasted between 1441 to 1870, and during that time more than 30 million people were forcefully taken out of their homelands by way of the Middle Passage. The captives were forced to take on a new identity once they reached the Americas. Everything in their lives related back to family, and once they were in the Americas they made new family bonds. The people of West Africa were shipped to the Americas in far less than humane conditions. During the Middle Passage, the poor conditions resulted in the loss of 40-50% of the captives ' lives. This large loss …show more content…
This continued to be the case even after families were torn away from each other and forced into slavery. Even after they reached the Americas, the importance of kinship remained, and the people created new family bonds and kinship networks that extended from plantation to plantation. Despite the harsh work and abuse, the captives carved out lives for themselves and their newly created families. The people even gained new skills to protect their families and themselves. They learned things such as survival, mental agility, and self reliance. One last account of the importance of family is in the film, The Dark Passage. This film told of a mother 's heartbreak of having her children ripped from her because of the cruelty of the slave trade, and also what she is willing to do to keep her child with her. She was even willing to cut off her child 's foot to keep him with her (“Dark Passage”). Though this is grim, it is only one instance of the reality that the captives went through to stay with their