Atlantic Slavery Research Paper

Slavery: The Economic Backbone of the Atlantic Before the 1500s “the European economic system was based on a principle known as mercantilism [and] the primary commodity was still agricultural produce but Europe was generally in poor condition.” Due to the Bubonic Plague, The Black Death, many European citizens lost their lives. “The fall in population forced up wages in the towns.” With most of their workforce gone, and an increase in wages being demanded is what paved the way for another, cheaper alternative, slavery.
The Renaissance was a very influential time in Europe during which new doors were opened and learning was enhanced. Discoveries were constantly being made through science, art, and exploration. Exploration to the New World
led to many new findings for the Europeans: food, plants, and the culture of the indigenous inhabitants. With the help of the Native’s, European settlers could thrive in the areas they decided to colonize. The locals shared with them their customs and taught the settlers how to farm the land. In exchange for their help the Europeans shared their goods with the locals, and eventually both parties started trading with each other. By the time the eighteenth century rolled around both North and South America had been settled by European citizens and their descendants.
Mercantilism was popular during this time.
The settlers that lived in the colonies started shipping goods that weren’t available in Europe back to the European nations of France, Britain, Spain, Portugal, and the Dutch Republic. The settlers sent products like chocolate (cacao), tobacco, and cotton to those countries. In return, these nations sent them goods that weren’t available in the Americas. They shipped items such as spices, and teas to America. This trading system was a success for all parties involved until the demand for products like tobacco and cotton grew. The growth of demand is what led to the heart of the Atlantic economy: the trading of
slaves.
Slavery wasn’t new for the people of Africa, “by the fifteenth century, men with dark skin had become quite comfortable with the concept of man as property… Slavery was not a twisted European manipulation, although Europe capitalized on a mutual understanding and greedily expanded the slave trade into what would become a horrific enterprise.” Slavery, as horrific as it was, had many benefits. The free labor that the slaves supplied provided the means for some of European countries economies, like Britain to develop. “Those who had invested in the colonial trade received attractive returns on their investment, while agricultural profits acquired from crops produced by slaves encouraged the growth of domestic manufacturing.” Owners were able to keep more money since they did not have to pay wages for the slaves. Demand could be met at a faster pace. Slaves could be sold for more money than the crops that they harvested. Slavery helped broaden strengthen ethnic diversity around the globe through the intermixing of different races. Slaves were able to establish their own culture apart from their masters. However, for all the good that came with it there were many bad things about it. Slavery wasn’t all that good, it had gruesome aspects to it.
“First, the Portuguese themselves kidnapped some Africans. But the bulk of the supply came from the Nigerians. These Nigerian middlemen moved to the interior where they captured other Nigerians who belonged to other communities.” From a business point of view, although slavery was a very profitable industry to be in the startup costs were high. Investors had to provide capital, for boats and slaves. “Of the 6.5 million immigrants who survived the crossing of the Atlantic and settled in the Western Hemisphere between 1492 and 1776, only 1 million were Europeans. The remaining 5.5 million were African. An average of 80 percent of these enslaved Africans—men, women, and children—were employed, mostly as field-workers.” Slaves were viewed not as people but as goods, and sometimes those goods came in damaged. Along with the monetary costs that came along with it, there was also the moral dilemma that went with it. Slavery was morally wrong. They treated the slaves inhumanely. People were kidnapped, sold and many times bred like cattle. Many of the slaves that were captured, died before they reached their intended destination on ships, due to illness or committing suicide. Political activists and Christian groups saw what was happening and spoke out against the horrors of slavery. They helped others see the errors of their ways. Europe soon came to end slavery and their economy was eventually able to recover from the
loss, Africa on the other hand was hit hard. “Many Nigerian middlemen began to depend totally on the slave trade and neglected every other business and occupation. The result was that when the trade was abolished [by England in 1807] these Nigerians began to protest. As years went by and the trade collapsed such Nigerians lost their sources of income and became impoverished.” Africa still hasn’t been able to recover from this loss.
The Atlantic economies flourished with the use of slavery. It provided free labor, which helped increase trade around the world. It also came with a cost countries are still trying to overcome the part that they participated in this ordeal. The Atlantic Slave Trade lasted for over 300 years. It was the backbone of many countries, including our own. Without it some of the great world powers that we know today such as Britain, might not be where they are. Sometimes good things can come from horrible situations.