Salvery Essay, Research Paper

To facilitate the slave trade, the Europeans built forts, castles and slave holding pens all along the coast of West Africa. An estimated 10,000,000 African came to America via the slave trade. A similar number died in wars produced by the slave trade or the long hard trek from African inland to the coast. Still others would still perish in the horrid cramped conditions of slave ships. The transatlantic voyage that the slaves had to endure has stood the test of time as one of the monumental atrocities of modern history.

An equally difficult life awaited the slaves upon their arrival to America. The typical slave was a field on sugar, rice or cotton plantation. They were systematically exploited and worked to death. Slaves were almost completely at the whim of their master. They had few or no rights, no privacy to speak of, and no hope of a stable family life. These horrid conditions were exemplified by the fact that any stray from the system, individuality, or uprising would result in maiming or death by the master. Even though there were dire consequences in doing so, many slaves were able to mobilize revolts with mixed success.

This began the anti-slavary movement in the United States. Some blacks were able to run or fight their way to freedom but most were un successful. A majority of free blacks at this time came from their service to their state in the Revolutionary War. In The Colonial United States, Free blacks made up only 10% of the entire black population. Deliberate steps were taken to keep the free black population to a minimum. In the south where slavery was more prominent free blacks were effectively muzzled, circumscribed, and controlled. But in the north, although discriminated against socially, economically, and politically, they became a highly vocal and organized force.