Slave trade – American History to 1877

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These chapters of Human Bondage are certainly eye-opening to the sheer size of the slave trade in the new world. We have already discussed the complexity with generalizing within native cultures or European colonizers, but these new interactions weave an entirely new web. In the fourth chapter Davis attempts to convey how the many European powers began to involve slavery into daily lives and constructs the argument for the inherent racist nature of slavery in Europe. He says that white Christians found it naturally wrong to enslave other white Christians, but even by simply having darker skin they are more like the “devil.” It seems that religion plays almost as key of a role in justifying slavery in these chapters as it did with subjugation and colonization of the natives in Taylor’s American Colonies. It is also overwhelming to learn how many players were in the African slave trade market, from the Portuguese to the Dutch and how many places African slaves could find landfall after their departure. The mass displacement of persons and the disproportionate amount of males could have had extreme effects on populations in Africa as well. Although Dana mentions that it was commonplace in Africa for enslavement to occur, it was undoubtedly influenced by the high demand the new world was placing on the market.

As to where slaves would find landfall, the enslavement system, labor and life seems to mimic or at least echo colonizations and some of the themes we discussed in class. If I were to generalize, colonies typically attempt to find the most economically sound product and utilize the cheapest labor. This is why many slaves in Brazil and the West Indies would be in the sugar cane industry and why eventually the American South would find cotton to be invaluable to their lifestyle. Even as far as New York slavery would be found in houses and many markets would take place to enhance the economic prowess of the colony. One thing I generally disliked about the reading and disagree with Dana’s point is the quickness with which when discussing slave history, we wish to find the definitive location where slavery was “the worst” or “the best” or where they would have picked for themselves. Slavery was an inherently evil construct and while it is obviously incredibly important to remember and discuss slave conditions in different colonies and areas of the Americas, trying to deduce or argue about who treated slavery worse for what reasons is fruitless and ultimately ties back to how the colonists could abuse and utilize them for economic gains. Davis does an incredibly good job at depicting the lives of slaves in each area of the world and how they were consistently humiliated and degraded and that, in my opinion, should be the history remembered most vividly.

Chapters 4 through 6 of Inhuman Bondage covers a large frame in the timeline of the African Slave trade. Davis shows the transitions of how the slaves were brought to new areas and how they lived in those new areas. Davis shows that slavery amongst Africans was not a new practice and their treatment, in some cases, was much better than it could have been if they were not taken from Africa.

Slaves that were taken from Africa were part of a culture where it was not unusual to be put into slavery. Rival tribes often took prisoners of war and turned them into slaves. The introduction of the European market did not bring about the slavery, but they did make it into a profitable business for many African chiefs. The trading of slaves did however increase the capture and warring between peoples in Africa. Those chiefs that were powerful enough wanted to make as much profit as they could by selling African slaves. The continued trade with the Europeans created an economy in Africa that became dependent on the trade of slaves. The increase of taking people to trade as slaves was problematic in many respects. The majority of slaves taken were male, changing the demographic. The continued wars were taxing on the people and many lives were lost, and of course many lives were ruined once sold as slaves.

Slaves in the Caribbean and places where work was hard were treated much worse than in some of the northern colonies. Those that had to work cultivating sugar cane had it worst of all. The work was intensive and almost nonstop during certain stages of cultivation. The hard work cost many their lives and made life miserable for those still working. Slave owners in such areas as the Caribbean also had to be a lot more strict. The population of slaves way out shadowed the population of white plantation owners. Examples had to be made and life was very hard.

In some of the northern colonies Davis makes it sound like life actually wasn’t that bad, at least at first. African slaves were actually treated much the same as white’s of their status. And those Africans were treated almost as equals if they gained any power or monetary status. It’s surprising that Africans of color were not treated badly because of their color. Davis makes this point a couple of times. He wants to make it clear that they were not treated differently for their skin in the beginning. Slaves were often given the opportunity to make money on the side and pay for their freedom. They were allowed to have their own small gardens and in some cases sections of the farm to make some money for themselves. Obviously the owners got a portion of what the slaves made, but it is better than what slaves were given later. This is something that I’ve never been taught growing up, so I found it interesting to read.

Tag: Slave trade

The Great Complexity of the Slave Trade

Early African Slave Treatment