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Transcontinental Slaves: African slaves in the Americas

By: Daniel Derma Rocha

School: Silva Health Magnet High School

Date: February/26/2014

Class: World History

Teacher: Chavez

Period: 5th

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Slavery was a common topic in the late 1600´s century; however, Europeans started

noticing that there was a dark side in their actions. Released slaves started to talk, and

conscious slaves traders began to see the cruel conditions and injustices that they were

committing. Mungo Park and Richard Ligon were able to understand the feelings of the

slaves, and record the events that were happening in the masters´ fields and in the slaves

market; but, even do, they never regret the profit that slaves brought them from the sugar

 plantations or from using them as ware1. Moreover, the Africans, as King Afonso and

Equiano asked for justice and respect to their humanity; they both, were able to wrote about

the experiences that slavery brought to their personal lives.

Slaves were subjugated by fear and power; they were treated worse than the beast of

the fields. Many slaves never met their families since they were slaves from infancy. They

were afraid from the future that await them, and how not to be afraid of the all possible

things that a man that already separate you from your family, and is trying to steal your

humanity can do to you. Slaves even got to think that the white people were cannibals and

feared to not being able to able to reach their destination in their voyage over the seas. 2

 

Although the truth was that they were employed to cultivate the land, their fear would not

allow them to believe this.

African inhabitants did not answered with enthusiasm to the idea of carrying slaves

to America, who would like a life with no rights? Slaves were humans with the capacity to

think and speak, and so they did. King Affonso tried to make the Europeans enter to reason

1 Ligon, Richard. "Text modernized by Northon Authors for this edition." In A True and Exact History of the

Island of Barbadoes, 43-47, 89, 96. London: Printed, and are to be sold by Peter Parker ... and Thomas Guy

..., 1673.2 Park, Mungo. ".." In Travels in the interior of Africa , pp. 291-293. North Bridge: Edinburgh: Adam and

Charles Black, 1860.

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and stop this savages activities, but apparently, they just did not wanted to hear him. He

spoke and wrote about how merchants were taking their relatives, and how his kingdom

was being destroyed and depopulated little by little.3 Another voice that spoke for his

 people was Olaudah Equiano, he was taken as a slave and separated from his family; but

years later he found freedom and recorded how the antiseptic transportation was and how

the white men threatened the Negroes.4 

The consequences for the Africans were catastrophic, villages and towns were

completely destroyed by the merchants, and they were sent to a place where they were

supposed to live to enrich their masters. Furthermore, these were excellent news for the

masters of the slaves and servants; they were able to get a good profit form their plantations

in the Caribbean thanks to their slaves.5 

3 Beck, Roger B.. "The Atlantic Slave Trade." In World history: patterns of interaction, 496. [Student Edition

ed. Evanston, Ill.: McDougal Littell, 2005.4 Beck, Roger B.. "The Atlantic Slave Trade." In World history: patterns of interaction, 498. [Student Edition

ed. Evanston, Ill.: McDougal Littell, 2005.5 Ligon, Richard. "Text modernized by Northon Authors for this edition." In A True and Exact History of the

Island of Barbadoes, 43-47, 89, 96. London: Printed, and are to be sold by Peter Parker ... and Thomas Guy

..., 1673.

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Bibliography

  Beck, Roger B.. "The Atlantic Slave Trade." In World history: patterns of interaction, 496-

498. [Student Edition ed. Evanston, Ill.: McDougal Littell, 2005.

  Ligon, Richard. "Text modernized by Northon Authors for this edition." In A True and Exact

History of the Island of Barbadoes, 43-47, 89, 96. London: Printed, and are to be sold by

Peter Parker ... and Thomas Guy ..., 1673.

  Park, Mungo. Travels in the interior of Africa . North Bridge: Edinburgh: Adam and Charles

Black, 1860.