transcontinental slaves
TRANSCRIPT
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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.