The Indescribable: Effects of the Atlantic Slave trade on the Slaves in America
“The African slave trade,” writes Gary B. Nash “is one of the most important phenomena in the history of the modern world.” Shown in Red, White, and Black the Peoples of Early North America, psychological, geographical and political means affected the lives of slaves; the masters subjugated the slaves by using those means. In other parts of the Americas as well as in the colonies, the slaves’ living conditions differed.
The psychological torture the colonists enforced upon the slaves affected their lives. It was the colonists’ fear that impacted the slaves. Whites lived in angst that the slaves would revolt so they used psychological affliction to try and restrain the slaves. The colonists felt the need for “greater and greater control”, which led to the “compulsion to dehumanize slaves by taking from them the rights that connoted their humanity”. The colonists defined the Africans worth as less than human. They stole the rights that all human beings should receive. This made the living conditions of slaves horrendous. The colonists made the African Americans believe that their lives meant nothing; that there was no possible way for them to escape their terrifying reality. The whites “heaped punishment on black offenders and retaliated with ferocity against black aggression in the hope that other slaves would be cowed into submission.” They controlled slaves with intimidation to make sure they would do as they were told. This impacted the slaves because they were physically and mentally abused. Not only did they live in fear, but some experienced what they feared the most. Geography affected the Africans as well. What impacted the lives of the slaves the most, was the fact that, “it was sugar that transformed the African slave trade”. “Englishmen” in the seventeenth century …show more content…
“With relatively few institutional restraints to inhibit slave owners, nothing stood between new African immigrants and a system of total subjugation”. Even if the laws existed, they were ineffectively enforced. The master could treat the slave however he wanted; making the lives of slaves a living …show more content…
In the New World, the living conditions varied between the North and South. In the North, “only one crop a year was possible and winter brought slack times.” This meant that being worked to death over crash crops did not happen in the North. The northern colonies possessed a more civil attitude. Since conditions in the North “were never so inhumane as the in the South”, their chance of survival increased greatly Instead of working on plantations, slaves worked as people of the community.
In other parts of Americas the quality of life also increased. Unlike the North American colonies, the slaves in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies possessed rights. Even in Roman law they “recognized the rights of slaves and the obligations of masters to them.” They were recognized as human beings even if they were the lowest class in the social structure. The Spanish granted slaves freedom after they served a limited amount of time. The community even encouraged the Africans to earn their freedom.
The Atlantic Slave Trade is one of the most horrific events in human history. There were numerous factors that affected the lives of slaves, such as psychological, geographical and political factors. The environments for slaves varied between the colonies in America and different parts of the
“The African slave trade,” writes Gary B. Nash “is one of the most important phenomena in the history of the modern world.” Shown in Red, White, and Black the Peoples of Early North America, psychological, geographical and political means affected the lives of slaves; the masters subjugated the slaves by using those means. In other parts of the Americas as well as in the colonies, the slaves’ living conditions differed.
The psychological torture the colonists enforced upon the slaves affected their lives. It was the colonists’ fear that impacted the slaves. Whites lived in angst that the slaves would revolt so they used psychological affliction to try and restrain the slaves. The colonists felt the need for “greater and greater control”, which led to the “compulsion to dehumanize slaves by taking from them the rights that connoted their humanity”. The colonists defined the Africans worth as less than human. They stole the rights that all human beings should receive. This made the living conditions of slaves horrendous. The colonists made the African Americans believe that their lives meant nothing; that there was no possible way for them to escape their terrifying reality. The whites “heaped punishment on black offenders and retaliated with ferocity against black aggression in the hope that other slaves would be cowed into submission.” They controlled slaves with intimidation to make sure they would do as they were told. This impacted the slaves because they were physically and mentally abused. Not only did they live in fear, but some experienced what they feared the most. Geography affected the Africans as well. What impacted the lives of the slaves the most, was the fact that, “it was sugar that transformed the African slave trade”. “Englishmen” in the seventeenth century …show more content…
“With relatively few institutional restraints to inhibit slave owners, nothing stood between new African immigrants and a system of total subjugation”. Even if the laws existed, they were ineffectively enforced. The master could treat the slave however he wanted; making the lives of slaves a living …show more content…
In the New World, the living conditions varied between the North and South. In the North, “only one crop a year was possible and winter brought slack times.” This meant that being worked to death over crash crops did not happen in the North. The northern colonies possessed a more civil attitude. Since conditions in the North “were never so inhumane as the in the South”, their chance of survival increased greatly Instead of working on plantations, slaves worked as people of the community.
In other parts of Americas the quality of life also increased. Unlike the North American colonies, the slaves in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies possessed rights. Even in Roman law they “recognized the rights of slaves and the obligations of masters to them.” They were recognized as human beings even if they were the lowest class in the social structure. The Spanish granted slaves freedom after they served a limited amount of time. The community even encouraged the Africans to earn their freedom.
The Atlantic Slave Trade is one of the most horrific events in human history. There were numerous factors that affected the lives of slaves, such as psychological, geographical and political factors. The environments for slaves varied between the colonies in America and different parts of the