The Slave Trade And Its Effects On Early America

4 Pages 1105 Words

Slavery played an important role in the development of the American
colonies. It was introduced to the colonies in 1619, and spanned until the
Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. The trading of slaves in America in the
seventeenth century was a large industry. Slaves were captured from their homes
in Africa, shipped to America under extremely poor conditions, and then sold to
the highest bidder, put to work, and forced to live with the new conditions of
America.
There was no mercy for the slaves and their families as they were
captured from their homes and forced onto slave ships. Most of the Africans who
were captured lived in small villages in West Africa. A typical village
takeover would occur early in the morning. An enemy tribe would raid the
village, and then burn the huts to the ground. Most of the people who were taken
by surprise were killed or captured; few escaped. The captured Africans were
now on their way to the slave ships. “Bound together two by two with heavy
wooden yokes fastened around their necks, a long line of black men and women
plodded down a well-worn path through the dense forest. Most of the men were
burdened with huge elephants' tusks. Others, and many of the women too, bore
baskets or bales of food. Little boys and girls trudged along beside their
parents, eyes wide in fear and wonder” (McCague, 14).
After they were marched often hundreds of miles, it was time for them to
be shipped off to sea, so that they could be sold as cheap labor to help harvest
the new world. But before they were shipped off, they had to pass through a
slave-trading station. The slave trade, which was first controlled by Portugal,
was now controlled by other European nations. In the late 1600's, Spain,
Holland, England, France and Denmark were all sending ships to West Africa. The
slave trade was becoming big business (Goodman, 7).
Selection of the slaves by the traders was a painstaking ...