Atlantic Slave Trade
Kevin Wang
Mr. Nicholson
AP US History, P.2
3 December 2014
LEQ 2.1.I.B: Comparison
Question: Compare and contrast the time period prior to the development of the Atlantic slave trade and the time period right after its introduction and assess the impact of its emergence. To what extent did African slavery change American society? You may want to consider social, economic, and geographical.
Prior to the Atlantic slave trade, the arable land along the South Atlantic seaboard were owned by wealth landowners and farmed primarily by either Native American slaves or white indentured servants. Beginning in the late 16th century and becoming ever more prominent in the 17th, the Atlantic slave trade was an inhumane trading system which transported large amounts of Africans to the Americas for slavery. These captives were brought along the horrifying “Middle Passage”, a gruesome trip in confining ships with little attention to sanitation and a predicted one-third chance for dying along the way. Surviving the trip, however, is not much better. African slaves were heavily mistreated by their masters and faced harsh, back-breaking labor underneath the blazing suns of the South. Thus, it is clear the Atlantic slave trade led to an array of abuses, yet it still grew to hold incredible influence over the years. The characteristic social and economic aspects of the eras before African slavery and after it show us the large impact of the Atlantic slave trade. The need for a larger workforce in the South was primarily due to the geography of the region, and this need remained the same both before and after African slavery. In the fertile soils of colonies like Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, agriculture provided the basis for society to function. The vast regions of land allowed the domination of large plantations, which in turn allowed plantation owners to profit through the selling of cash crops, such as tobacco. Because many of these states were along the
Mr. Nicholson
AP US History, P.2
3 December 2014
LEQ 2.1.I.B: Comparison
Question: Compare and contrast the time period prior to the development of the Atlantic slave trade and the time period right after its introduction and assess the impact of its emergence. To what extent did African slavery change American society? You may want to consider social, economic, and geographical.
Prior to the Atlantic slave trade, the arable land along the South Atlantic seaboard were owned by wealth landowners and farmed primarily by either Native American slaves or white indentured servants. Beginning in the late 16th century and becoming ever more prominent in the 17th, the Atlantic slave trade was an inhumane trading system which transported large amounts of Africans to the Americas for slavery. These captives were brought along the horrifying “Middle Passage”, a gruesome trip in confining ships with little attention to sanitation and a predicted one-third chance for dying along the way. Surviving the trip, however, is not much better. African slaves were heavily mistreated by their masters and faced harsh, back-breaking labor underneath the blazing suns of the South. Thus, it is clear the Atlantic slave trade led to an array of abuses, yet it still grew to hold incredible influence over the years. The characteristic social and economic aspects of the eras before African slavery and after it show us the large impact of the Atlantic slave trade. The need for a larger workforce in the South was primarily due to the geography of the region, and this need remained the same both before and after African slavery. In the fertile soils of colonies like Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, agriculture provided the basis for society to function. The vast regions of land allowed the domination of large plantations, which in turn allowed plantation owners to profit through the selling of cash crops, such as tobacco. Because many of these states were along the