The Impact of Transatlantic Slave Trade on American Society

During the 16th and 17th century slavery was becoming a common thing in the United States, with slaves providing labor in tobacco and indigo cultivations. There was a remarkable trend of abolishing slave trade before the plantation of cotton grew in the 1790s. Cotton was valuable and labor-intensive crop to plant, requiring long working hours to separate cotton fibers from the seeds. Africans were forcefully brought to Europe to provide labor to the economic system without remunerations. During the 17th century, the slave trade emerged, with slaves being captured from their African homes, transported to America under awful conditions, and then bought by those who provided the highest bid. This paper focuses on the role and influence of American slavery in building the United States during the colonial period up to the creation of the American constitution.

Slavery was exercised in many different countries as a way of exploiting the war prisoners, especially, when there were sufficient land and labor shortage. In various African societies, the increased demand for slaves led to the transportation of enslaved people to the Middle East through the Sahara Desert. The development of various African states advanced the inequality level, particularly, between men and the women, free and the servile, and rich and the poor[1]. During the 16th century, there emerged an international trading system stretching from Western to Northern Africa. The massive trading system was highly sustained by the gold mining in Western Africa and was controlled by strong empires, including, Songhay, Mali, and Ghana.

In the 9th century a Spanish historian al-Bakri reported that the king of Ghana was a great king and in his kingdom were remarkable mines of gold.[2] He also reported that the king of Ghana had over 200,000 soldiers who ruled the wealthiest trading empire. Although African continent was characterized by great kingdoms and empires, various societies lacked notable state apparatus. They were usually governed by kinship institutions and council of elders, acknowledging religious beliefs. Therefore, the primary intention of the transatlantic slave trade was gold and other valuables, but the commuters discovered human being as a more profitable commodity.

The slave ships carried over 10 million Africans to various destinations including, South and North America. The Native Americans quickly died because of various reasons, especially, diseases, murder, and starvation. The transatlantic slave trade offered a reliable workforce in cultivating plantation economies. The European slavers moved Africans in an awful journey, prominently called the Middle passage. The journey was characterized by intense slaves’ sufferings as a result of punishment and shipboard infections. Slaves were extensively chained, chaffing their skins against both timber and metals, leading to protrusion of their bones. According to Olaudah Equiano, the crew was highly feared because of the inhumane treatment, filthy holding, and inadequate provisions, causing some slaves to commit suicide because of depression.[3]

The cases of smallpox, dysentery, whippings, and rape were usually common in the slave ships. The slaves were encountered with a remarkable challenge of adopting a new environment different from what they were comfortable and familiar with. The increased demand for slaves resulted in two different kinds of slaves, urban and the rural. The rural slaves were supervised and driven by a reliable overseer, working mainly on the rice, cotton, and indigo plantations from dawn till dusk. In Maryland and Virginia, the slaves were labored on tobacco plantations while in Louisiana, they were placed on sugarcane farms.[4] The urban slaves were more skilled, and they were placed in various cities to work mainly in cotton mills. The slaves in the city were almost free men compared to those working on plantations because they received better foods and clothes.

The impact of transatlantic trade is still evidenced in the present American society. Many diets linked with Africans including cassava were initially imported from West Africa, and they were embraced by the Africans in America were they are still served today. Rhythms, songs, and melodies from West Africa are still effective in American society today under different forms, including synthesized drumbeats. The African impacts are also observed today in languages and basket weaving practiced by the Gullah people living in Carolina coastal islands.[5]

Therefore, the impact of slave trade on American society is still observable today, but under different and modified new forms. The slave trade also had innumerable negative impacts on Africa, such as loss of able-bodied individuals and destruction of both environmental and economic factors as a result of high slave raids.

American slavery played a significant role in building the United States during the colonial period. Slavery was exercised in many continents as a way of punishing the war prisoners. The primary goal of the transatlantic slave trade was mainly valuables, but because of the high labor force demand, the commuters discovered slaves as more profitable commodities. Therefore, American slavery contributed remarkably in developing America as slaves provided reliable labor in both cities and rural plantations.

Bibliographies

Goen, Courtney. n.d. “American Slavery”. Slavery 19 (1): 1-29.

Okie, Tom. 2017. ”The American Yawp: A Free And Online, Collaboratively Built American History Textbook”. Journal Of American History 103 (4): 117-622. doi:10.1093/jahist/jaw625.

[1] Goen, Courtney. n.d. ”American Slavery”. Slavery 19 (1): 1-29

[2] Goen, Courtney. n.d. ”American Slavery”. Slavery 19 (1): 1-29

[3] Okie, Tom. 2017. ”The American Yawp: A Free And Online, Collaboratively Built American History Textbook”. Journal Of American History 103 (4): 117-622. doi:10.1093/jahist/jaw625

[4] Ibid., 211

[5] Ibid., 414