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Transatlantic Slavery and a Capitalist Modernity

The transatlantic or 'triangular trade' as it was so called due to its progression over the course of three major steps. Firstly ships would leave Western Europe for Africa filled with goods for which sailors would exchange for slaves the most popular and important commodities were weapons and gun powder followed by textiles, pearls and other manufactured goods. This exchange could vary in its time frame. The second step and the one that cost the lives of so many African slaves were the crossing of the Atlantic or 'the middle passage'. Africans were transported to America to be sold throughout the continent as slave labourers. The slave traders then brought back mostly agricultural products, produced by the slaves in plantations mainly sugar and tobacco until these stocks depleted and cotton became the main commodity involved in Industrial Revolution. It is estimated that between 25 and 30 million people, were taken from their homes and sold into a life of slavery.
             The origins of the transatlantic slave trade can be traced back to Portugal in the mid-15th Century. Portugal had been present in Western Africa for several years but in 1445 the King, Henry the Navigator instructed his sailors on their way to the continent to win over the natives so they could purchase human beings to be used as free labour rather than to kidnap them as they had done previously4. Their investment in human labour continued and grew and in 1488, the profit margins generated were so large that they almost solely funded the Christian nation's war against Islam in North Africa. By the 1500's the monarch was earning over 2 million reis from the slave trade through taxation alone5 and so by royal decree the first major factor that changed the face of the slave trade and the global economy was implemented. That being the Portuguese settlers in the Americas or the "New World" were given loans with easy repayment and interest plans to buy more slaves and develop sugar plantations.


Essays Related to Transatlantic Slavery and a Capitalist Modernity

1. Modern-Day Slavery

Sex slavery is the largest offender of slavery, where 46 percent of slaves in the world are sex slaves. ... This is a large proportion compared to the 4 million slaves exported globally in a span of 24 years during the peak of the transatlantic slave trade. ... As this type of slavery is for the pleasure and profit of traffickers, there is still slavery that occurs from the result of racial inequality. ... Compared to the transatlantic slave trade, there are more African Americans in prisons now. ... This process is similar to the transatlantic slave trade in which Africa's resources are ...

  • Word Count: 683
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2. Transatlantic Slave Trade

Transatlantic Slave Trade From the 1520s to the 1860s an estimated 11 to 12 million African men, women, and children were forcibly embarked on European vessels for a life of slavery in the Western Hemisphere. ... These two islands, located off West Africa and in the Gulf of Guinea, became leading centers of world sugar production and plantation slavery from the mid-1400s to the mid-1500s. ... Throughout the history of the transatlantic slave trade, however, more Africans arrived as slaves in Brazil than in any other colony. ... Throughout the 18th century " the height of the transatlan...

  • Word Count: 5818
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3. Describe the Transatlantic slave trade

The transatlantic slave trade was the forced transportation of Africans from their homeland to destinations in Europe and the Americas. ... The transatlantic slave trade was the largest intercontinental migration of people in world history prior to the 20th century and was the foreground of the many struggles African's faced in gaining rights free of racism and prejudice. ... As slavery grew it became an integral part of the international trading system known as the "triangular trade": which involved the Europeans sailing to Africa and trading goods as such gunpowder, munitions and alc...

  • Word Count: 603
  • Approx Pages: 2
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4. History of the African American Diaspora

There were both many types and systems of slavery from the 650 CE to the 1500s. ... During the pre-Transatlantic Slave Trade, children of slaves did not automatically become slaves themselves. ... Overall, a majority of the world pre-transatlantic slave trade treated slaves not without some form of respect. ... Furthermore, the dawn of the era of capitalist production between the 1500s and 1600s also kindled an environment for racism. ... The triangular trade route, called the transatlantic slave trade, connected the Americas, Europe and Africa. ...

  • Word Count: 1892
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5. The Transatlantic Slave Trade

So how did indentured servitude slowly transition to racially-based slavery? ... Still, the inhumane treatment of Africans did not stop the transatlantic slave trade as it was the most profitable and the most difficult part. ... The transatlantic slave trade had a devastating impact on Africa more than any other country because the Europeans were aiming directly at Africans only while other countries were willing to enslave both blacks and whites. ... Despite the South's reasoning of why slavery is so profound to their economy, the Northerners were able to raise awareness against slavery ...

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6. Abolitionist Movement

I believe that the abolitionists (only anti-slavery persons), who wanted an immediate end to slavery, radicalized the anti-slavery movement by demanding an, immediate end to slavery and recognition of equality by the year 1836. ... In exchange they revived transatlantic passage and eventual "freedom dues." ... The American Anti-Slavery Society (doc. ... The American Anti-Slavery Society's "Particular Instructions" (doc. ... Document F calls for immediate abolition, because slavery is a sin. ...

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7. Howard's End by E.M. Forster

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  • Word Count: 1625
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8. Abolition in the 1800

By the eighteenth century, Great Britain was reaping monumental financial rewards from the transatlantic slave trade. ... This act prohibited Great Britain from participating in the transatlantic slave trade.The American Anti-Slavery Society was established in 1833, but abolitionist sentiment antedated the republic. ... Moreover, some southerners opposed slavery. Blacks were in the vanguard of the anti-slavery movement. ... The group planned to meet each January until slavery was abolished. ...

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