In this brilliantly written work, Markus Rediker describes a machine that manipulated the world both politically and economically. The machine of terror in which people and objects were in constant process of transformation within the slave trade. In this essay I will discuss, the theme of transformation of the ship itself, the captains of the vessels, the crews, and the poor African captives.
The ship begins from just a moving vessel which later is transformed into the naval warfare weapon, factory(plantation), and a prison for both Africans and sailors. Being just a moving vessel it managed to carry 12.4 million African souls through the Middle Passage from 1700-1808 when slavery was finally, officially abolished. These people were making a profit, not caring about who’s exploited, working conditions, and what will happen to the future generation of this culture while in America. They did not care what various peoples’ movement can cause to the New World, that arises racial boycotts and class justice in the future. Rediker states, “This peculiar sort of machine, with its capacity to incarcerate and transport African bodies had helped to bring into existence a new Atlantic world of labor, plantations, trade empire and capitalism”. In this quote Rediker reveals, his solution to the problem of …show more content…
But the only positive impact that it created except a huge profit, is the unity of Africans from different tribes and languages. The slave trade always brought together unusual agglomerations of people and to some extent leveled the cultural differences among them. This unity impacted the “horrible looking white men” and put an end to human
The ship begins from just a moving vessel which later is transformed into the naval warfare weapon, factory(plantation), and a prison for both Africans and sailors. Being just a moving vessel it managed to carry 12.4 million African souls through the Middle Passage from 1700-1808 when slavery was finally, officially abolished. These people were making a profit, not caring about who’s exploited, working conditions, and what will happen to the future generation of this culture while in America. They did not care what various peoples’ movement can cause to the New World, that arises racial boycotts and class justice in the future. Rediker states, “This peculiar sort of machine, with its capacity to incarcerate and transport African bodies had helped to bring into existence a new Atlantic world of labor, plantations, trade empire and capitalism”. In this quote Rediker reveals, his solution to the problem of …show more content…
But the only positive impact that it created except a huge profit, is the unity of Africans from different tribes and languages. The slave trade always brought together unusual agglomerations of people and to some extent leveled the cultural differences among them. This unity impacted the “horrible looking white men” and put an end to human