The people were taken from their home lands, locked in chains and brought to foreign lands where they would be sold like livestock to the highest bidder; then they were forced to work for people who now owned them. As horrible as it sounds, slave trading was a common practice during the16th century, and continued until the 1830 's. During that time, slave trading was one of the most profitable ventures for merchants of the Atlantic; empires, slave states,and colonies all benefited from it.The slave trade in the Atlantic had an impact Europe, West Africa, and also in the Western Hemisphere. For Europe,the Atlantic slave trade increased profits, and made people 's lives easier. The slave trade was seen as a way to reduce the cost of labor in
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In South America, the Caribbean, and in Mexico, the Spanish and Portuguese tried to use the natives as laborers, but failed because many of the indigenous people were not suited for the kind of labor plantations and mines required. In the colonies in North America, the French, Dutch and English tried using indentured servitude, but found that many of the immigrants were not suited for the climates and many were stricken by New World illnesses. All of the empires needed to find a source of labor that would be able to work hard and survive the new environmental conditions well enough in order to keep their plantations going; slaves from West Africa were the answer. Unlike the indigenous people, African slaves seemed to be more accustomed to hard labor, and unlike the indentured servants, the slaves seemed to have more resistance to the diseases. With African slaves working in these conditions the plantations yielded large yields of products. The sales of goods made in the colonies benefited their respective sovereign empires and increased wealth for the plantation owners. Socially, the slave owners were considered wealthy and whoever had the most slaves, was the most wealthy. Much like in the slave states of Africa, the amount of wealth was important to the Slave
In South America, the Caribbean, and in Mexico, the Spanish and Portuguese tried to use the natives as laborers, but failed because many of the indigenous people were not suited for the kind of labor plantations and mines required. In the colonies in North America, the French, Dutch and English tried using indentured servitude, but found that many of the immigrants were not suited for the climates and many were stricken by New World illnesses. All of the empires needed to find a source of labor that would be able to work hard and survive the new environmental conditions well enough in order to keep their plantations going; slaves from West Africa were the answer. Unlike the indigenous people, African slaves seemed to be more accustomed to hard labor, and unlike the indentured servants, the slaves seemed to have more resistance to the diseases. With African slaves working in these conditions the plantations yielded large yields of products. The sales of goods made in the colonies benefited their respective sovereign empires and increased wealth for the plantation owners. Socially, the slave owners were considered wealthy and whoever had the most slaves, was the most wealthy. Much like in the slave states of Africa, the amount of wealth was important to the Slave