The Cellular Trade: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

The triangular trade was a system of travel and transportation in which crops, manufactures, and mostly slaves, were traded between Africa, Europe, and the New World. Otherwise known as the trans-Atlantic slave trade, it began around 16th century when Portuguese interests in Africa moved away from the abundance of gold to a much more useful and available commodity; slaves. By the 17th century, the trade was in full swing, peaking towards the end of the 18th century at incredible numbers. The vast majority of the African slaves transported to the New World were from the central and western parts of the continent, sold by native African tribes to European slave traders who then transported them to the colonies in North and South America in exchange …show more content…
“On average, only half of the initial population of the slaves survived to reach the first destination. Then they were put into underground dungeons where they would stay until there was room on another ship for them to be transported in. The Africans were treated like cattle during the crossing if they somehow survived to be ‘herded’ onto the ships ("The African Slave Trade and the Middle Passage").” The people were stuffed between decks in spaces that were too small to stand in, with heats too unbearable, and the air too unbreathable. To save space, men were often chained in pairs as well. In these cramped quarters, diseases, especially smallpox and yellow fever, spread like wildfire, the diseased sometimes thrown overboard to prevent a …show more content…
However, there was a lot of racial bias in the comment. Most likely the ones to blame were actually the Africans. Indeed the ‘white strangers’ caused a lot of deception and confusion in the ranks, but it is ultimately the African’s fault for giving in to the temptation. To their defense, temptation is hard to overcome and maybe the other side of the trade could be very beneficial to them. We are all humans and all make mistakes. There is a way of thinking that demonstrates that people should only think about that big picture, not the trivial matters. The small part of this controversy is that if the Africans sold their friends, they would get trinkets, popularity (maybe not in a good way), and riches. The big picture is that, they just fueled a massive, infamous trade that overall brought Africa to a deficit in the case of population most of all. ("Africans did NOT sell their own people into