Chapter 14 'The Era of the Slave Trade'
When I think about this chapter before reading it, I immediately think about slavery and segregation. Judging from the title I assume this chapter talks about how the slaves were imported to the United States from Africa. Of course this subject is a sensitive subject for me because my ancestors were slaves. From watching movies and reading certain history books of this era makes me very uncomfortable. 
The Atlantic Slave trade began in 1450 and the Spanish and Portuguese started slaving in Africa. In 1865 they were still smuggling slaves until the end of the civil war, even though it was illegal technically in 1808. Slaves were not only imported to the United States but also imported to the West Indies which is where the majority of them went. Also they were imported to Brazil the second place where most of them were sent to. The United States actually comes in last place. I’ve always assumed that the United States had the highest population of slaves but this is yet another myth that was proven wrong. 30 million slaves were taken from their homes in Africa. Out of those 30 million, 10 million of them die during the capture phase. Another 10 million die during the middle passage. That leaves the last 10 million to survive to make it over the ocean.
Here is a question that I’ve always wondered for as long as I can remember; Why African’s? Well from research of different sources one reason Is that the Americans are desperate for labor in this era, the second is that it was harder for Africans to run away than Native Americans and lastly, the African’s strengths when it came down to agricultural practices and resistance to diseases. These reasons made me understand a lot better on why our ancestors had been tortured and taken advantage of for so many decades. Not saying it was right but I do feel a little bit more at ease knowing the reasons of such a life changing era. This is why I have so much pride in my race. We’ve come a long way. Not to offend anyone reading this. This is just something that has internally held me curious for so many years.
When I think about this chapter before reading it, I immediately think about slavery and segregation. Judging from the title I assume this chapter talks about how the slaves were imported to the United States from Africa. Of course this subject is a sensitive subject for me because my ancestors were slaves. From watching movies and reading certain history books of this era makes me very uncomfortable. 
The Atlantic Slave trade began in 1450 and the Spanish and Portuguese started slaving in Africa. In 1865 they were still smuggling slaves until the end of the civil war, even though it was illegal technically in 1808. Slaves were not only imported to the United States but also imported to the West Indies which is where the majority of them went. Also they were imported to Brazil the second place where most of them were sent to. The United States actually comes in last place. I’ve always assumed that the United States had the highest population of slaves but this is yet another myth that was proven wrong. 30 million slaves were taken from their homes in Africa. Out of those 30 million, 10 million of them die during the capture phase. Another 10 million die during the middle passage. That leaves the last 10 million to survive to make it over the ocean. 
Here is a question that I’ve always wondered for as long as I can remember; Why African’s? Well from research of different sources one reason Is that the Americans are desperate for labor in this era, the second is that it was harder for Africans to run away than Native Americans and lastly, the African’s strengths when it came down to agricultural practices and resistance to diseases. These reasons made me understand a lot better on why our ancestors had been tortured and taken advantage of for so many decades. Not saying it was right but I do feel a little bit more at ease knowing the reasons of such a life changing era. This is why I have so much pride in my race. We’ve come a long way. Not to offend anyone reading this. This is just something that has internally held me curious for so many years.
No comments:
Post a Comment