How Has Slavery Played A Significant Role In American History?

The United States of America in the 17th through 19th centuries was a country that was running based off the enslavement of millions of humans. Roughly 12.5 million people from Africa were shipped to the New World known as America. The system used to bring the Africans to America, known as the transatlantic slave trade, used a trading pattern that involved raw materials being brought from the New World to Europe, manufactured goods being brought from Europe to Africa, then finally people from Africa were brought to America to be slaves. After being brought to America, the slaves were often bonded for life, as well as any children they may have. Many people, like Frederick Douglass, were born into slavery. Slavery has played a significant role in United States history. History is often categorized into three groups by historians. These groups are
America was greatly affected by the dramatic difference between social statuses between slaves and their masters. In the memoir, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by himself, Douglass noticed how the practice of owning slaves could impact a person. After moving to Baltimore, Frederick Douglass met the family he would be working for, including his new mistress. Upon meeting her, he made note of how kind, soft, and earnest she was. However, not too long after Frederick Douglass began working for her, he noticed that “slavery soon proved its ability to divest her of these heavenly qualities. Under its influence, the tender heart became stone, and the lamblike disposition gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness” (32). A once caring woman that Frederick spoke and thought so highly of was changed by having too much power over somebodies life, owning another human being. American slave owners character and morals were deeply impacted by owning slaves and thoughts of superiority and arrogance influenced the social situation of Pre-Civil War