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History of the Slavery Trade Essay

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Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be sold and bought and are forced to do labor. This practice has been around since the very beginning of civilization. This dates back almost 11,000 years ago during the Code of Hammurabi. People are sentenced to slavery due to debt, prisoners of war, punishment for crime, child abandonment, and the birth into slavery. Slavery has been found to be present in various countries throughout history such as Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia. The purpose of slavery was to earn money without having to do all the work. This left people more time to do things they wanted rather than committing their time to work that they do not want to do. The slave trade was invented when …show more content…

Slaves were given enough room to at least turn around. Less slaves died this way. Slave ships were infested with rats and bugs. Dead bodies surrounded living people. Also, the food and water fed to the slaves were spoiled. This all caused many diseases such as smallpox and dysentery. Many of the slaves refused to eat the food which resulted in sailors prying their mouths open and force feeding them. Madness was common from the slaves. They were taken away from family, tied up, and held as slaves. They were not treated as they were real people. Crew members would punish, beat, and in many cases kill slaves. Slaves terrified that the white people would eat them since those who were taken, never returned. Those who tried to rebel usually jumped off the boat and drown themselves. They thought they would rather commit suicide than be held captive as a slave. Though, many did not succeed. Once the ships were docked, the slaves would be taken off and placed in a pen. There they were washed, and sometimes their skin would be covered with grease or tar to make them look healthier. This was done to get as much money as possible for them. The slaves were also branded with a hot iron as identification. Auctions where hard to slaves because this was usually the time where families were split up. Bidders mostly only bought the strongest and healthiest of the family. The first way of auctioning off slaves was by highest bid. Slaves would be picked from the pen and placed on a

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