The slave trade was driven by economic interests, as European nations sought to exploit the labor of enslaved Africans to work in colonies across the Americas. The rise of capitalism and the need for cheap labor played a significant role in perpetuating the trade. Additionally, racist ideologies that dehumanized Africans and justified their enslavement also underpinned the horrors of the slave trade.
Two vital ideas to the Atlantic slave trade are the dehumanization of enslaved Africans, which justified their treatment as property, and the economic profitability of using enslaved labor to produce goods like sugar, tobacco, and cotton for European markets. These ideas perpetuated the brutal system of slavery that lasted for over 400 years in the Americas.
African merchants played a role in facilitating the Atlantic slave trade by capturing and selling individuals from rival ethnic groups to European slave traders in exchange for goods like firearms and textiles. This trade was often driven by intertribal conflict and the desire to gain power and resources.
Abolitionists such as William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson, and Olaudah Equiano argued against the continuation of the slave trade. They used moral, ethical, and religious arguments to push for the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.
William Wilberforce was a British politician and philanthropist who campaigned tirelessly for the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire. John Newton, a former slave ship captain turned abolitionist, influenced Wilberforce with his personal account of the brutality of the slave trade. Together, their efforts led to the passing of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which abolished the transatlantic slave trade in the British Empire.
Slavery can never be justified.
slave trade
The slave trade was set up for economic gain and to meet the demand for labor in industries such as agriculture and mining. It was also driven by racist beliefs that justified the exploitation of Africans for profit.
Commerce and slave trade compromise
Slave families were split up and sold as part of the domestic slave trade.
the slave trade was abolished in 1807.
Race played a significant role in the African slave trade as it was largely based on the belief of white superiority over black individuals. Europeans justified enslaving Africans by labeling them as inferior due to their race, which allowed for the systematic exploitation and forced labor of millions of Africans. This racial ideology perpetuated the dehumanization and mistreatment of enslaved individuals throughout the slave trade.
After the trans-Atlantic slave trade was declared illegal and later eliminated, it was replaced by legitimate trade (non-slave trade).
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slaves hence the name Atlantic SLAVE trade
Slave families were split up
Slave families were split up