The Caribbean And The Slave Trade In The Caribbean

Everyone has their own understanding of what slavery is, but there are misconceptions about the history of “slavery”. Not many people understand how the slave trade initially began. Originally Africa had “slaves” but they were servants or serfs, sometimes these people could be part of the master’s family. They could own land, rise to positions of power, and even purchase their freedom. This changed when white captains came to Africa and offered weapons, rum, and manufactured goods for people. African kings and merchants gave away the criminals, debtors, and prisoner from rival tribes. The demand for cheap labor was increasing, this resulted in the forced migration of over ten million slaves. The Atlantic Slave Trade occurred from 1500 to 1880 CE. This large-scale event changed the economy and histories of many places. The Atlantic Slave Trade held a great amount of significance in the development of America. Africans shaped America by building a solid foundation for the country.

Another factor enabling the slave trade was a better nautical knowledge. An “understanding of the wind and ocean currents of the North and South Atlantics” (Eltis, 2007). Not having enough indenture servants from Europe and a dying Amerindian population made trading for African’s slaves the best choose. The “agency” that supplied the slaves were the ruling tribe of the African’s region. Slaves were either former prisoner of war or a person of criminal tendencies (Eltis, 2007).

Rhode island was involved in piracy and trading black slaves. They lived of of fishing, shipbuilding, and whaling. Whaling oil was reusable and was used in oil lamps. Farming was very difficult to grow things on. But corn, pumpkins, rey, squash, and beans we planted, because they were easier to grow.

The Atlantic Slave trade began to pick up speed with the development of colonies by the Spanish and then the English, which were used to expand the mercantilist countries empires and power. African slaves began to be seen as a necessity once the Native American population plummeted and Spanish Creoles refused to do the hard work to supply their home country with the needed raw materials. Europeans were unwilling to provide the heavy menial labor required to successfully build a colony, making it “necessary to acquire negro slaves” (Document 1). Creoles and other European settlers forced slaves to “work too hard” and gave “them too little to eat” which weakened slaves and caused many to die off (Document 1).

Haiti and Jamaica were both colonized for economic purposes. Like the other Caribbean islands that were initially inhabited by native peoples such as the Taino, they traded hands as one European power after another fought each other claiming territory for their selves. Haiti eventually fell to the French and England took Jamaica. Both islands were used for sugar production and both France and England relied on slave labor for success. The native populations were not a part of the European slave system because they were either wiped out during the initial conquests or were able to emigrate to familiar lands in the Caribbean. France and England capitalized on the existing slave market of western Africa to supply the demand for labor. European exploitation of slaves from Africa increased the slave trade so that, until the trade was abolished in the late nineteenth century, millions of humans were stolen from their homeland and transported across the Atlantic not.

As addictive properties of sugar had exploded the demand for sugar at the start of the 1700’s, the demand called for higher production. The ideal climate in the Caribbean and the abundance of African slaves provided this higher production, transforming the small English sugar trade into the beginning of global commerce. After the discovery of the Caribbean in 1492, the land was colonized and used for its ideal climate to grow cane sugar (Doc. 1, 2, and 6). The cheap land had popped up colonies that started utilizing slaves and other resources to make a highly efficient labor system (Doc. 9, 10, and production facility (Doc. 7-12

"the plantation system was an agricultural design for the production of export commodities for foreign markets- a means for introducing agricultural capitalism to

Before Columbus’ entrance into the Americas, Europeans were unnecessarily losing profit from trading goods imported from Asia, and islands abundant in spices like Indonesia, China, and India, due to labor intensity and distance. With access to many sea routes, such as Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea, creaky and unstable ships made safe shipment unguaranteed. Land routes, often utilized by caravans, stretched into Asia and the Arabian Peninsula, but didn’t asset Europe due to Muslim middlemen gaining profit along the routes. A historian analyzed the situation saying, “to obtain a more regular and predictable flow of wealth, the European rivals, needed their own colonies, where they might harvest precious minerals and tropical and semitropical crops..” (Taylor 66). Europeans thirsted for a profitable trade source, and the Americas were their solution. America’s crops facilitated European population growth, while America’s gold and silver mines stimulated wealth. This “route” became a more accessible and profitable source of commerce for Europeans. Africa was soon brought into this pattern, providing access to cheap slave labor. The three continents formed an interdependent trade system. Africa contributed slaves, Europe supplied advanced technology,

The transatlantic slave trade first began in 1502, with records of the first slaves in the New World, lasting nearly four centuries. It connected the economies of three continents. The route began in West Europe, where it continued to Africa, trading manufactured goods such as rum, textiles, weapons, and gunpowder for slaves. From Africa, the ship went along the Atlantic to America, distributing slaves, and bringing agricultural products such as coffee, cotton, rice, and sugar back to Europe. The entire route typically lasted eighteen months. The slave trade ended in 1867, seventeen years after Britain began arresting slave ships.

The title of the document is The Manner in which the Slaves are procured, An Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of Africa.

The best place to begin this examination would be with that which is most familiar to us, in this case that would be the Atlantic trade system. The Primary routes within the Atlantic system connected Europe, Africa, and the Americas, forming a triangle beginning in the 16th century.i This triangle consisted of raw goods such as sugar or timber being transported to Europe from the Americas, then finished goods were transported to Africa, where they were in turn traded for slaves who were shipped back to the Americas.ii The end goal of this system can be inferred by the time period and parties involved, the goal was to bring wealth and power to the European countries participating in the system. At this time in history the power of those European countries is a testament to the success of the

There was an extreme decrease in population and their involvement in this period had an effect on their social and political standing which could eventually result in colonial domination. In this essay, the impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade will be discussed and how the

By the early 18th century, with the peace treaty in place, Jamaica began to build vast amounts of sugar plantations. Sugar became the main export to England. Second, and not far behind, was slave trade. Jamaica’s location in the heart of the Caribbean Sea made it an ideal port for harboring slaves until they were needed to sell. This enabled Jamaica to be one of the British crown’s most lucrative assets (Encyclopedia Americana, 2001, P 673).

The beginning of slavery in the Caribbean can be traced back to the emergence of piracy in the 16th and 17th centuries. This eventually led to the promotion of slave trading and sugar plantations. While enslaved on the sugar plantations, slaves were treated very poorly. Plantation owners treated their slaves so poorly that most were undernourished and diseased. Slaves were even forced to work on their "spare" time to provide for their own needs. Needless to say, slaves encountered cruel punishment that we can’t even comprehend. The slaves however, continually resisted white supremacy causing much tension between the two social classes. Despite this, a new social class was emerging, the free coloureds. This

A political system can be defined as a system of politics and government that runs a country or state. It therefore consists of the formal and informal structures that organize the way in which countries affairs are carried out. The political system of a country or region usually reflects the legal, economic, cultural and social systems that are in that society. According to Kohn 2012 colonialism is a practice of domination which involves the subjugation of one people to another. It is the complete control and this control therefore disturbs the peace and causes a new set of problems for not only the people currently living in the colony but also for those to live there in years to come. Colonialism has had a great impact on the Caribbean's