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Module 4 Reflection: Enslaved Africans

                                                         Enslaved Africans

               Why did Europeans buy slaves? European traders have been interested in African slave trade such as Ghana and Mali because of their trading networks. Slavery was happening for many centuries before the Atlantic Slave trade. Apparently slaves were exported to states in Africa, Europe, and Asia before the European colonization of Americas. Europeans brought slaves for economic reasons. They purchased African slaves when cheaper options were unavailable. Spanish colonists began to purchase more African slaves because they were easier to manipulate." African slaves were available in greater numbers than European servants and at lower costs, their productivity was higher". Europeans weren't deeply involved in slave trading on the west African coast. there was some movement of African labor to Madeira and the canary Islands by Portuguese explorers. Due to Europeans enslaving people forever and taking them away from their homelands they began to be classified as chattel slaves. A chattel slave is a enslaved person who is owned forever and when they have kids, they re automatically enslaved as well. They were treated like property to be brought and sold which is very sad. The Portuguese in the 16th century were first to engage in the Atlantic slave trade in 1526 they completed the first 1st slave voyage. They were shipped to the Americas to be sold to work on coffee, tobacco, cocoa, sugar and cotton plantations, gold and silver mines, rice fields, the construction industry, cutting timber for ships, in skilled labor, and as domestic servants.
 Why did Africans sell slaves? well apparently Africans played a role in the slave trade by selling their captives/ prisoners of war to European buyers. The captives were usually form other ethnic enemy groups. They would sometimes be sold to prevent crime in that area, other slaves were captured from kidnappings or raids. African slaves were enslaved for petty debts or minor criminal offenses. The adults were bound and gagged and infants were thrown into sacks. Which is very sickening. They often tried to escape by drowning or shoving their children under seaweed, and hiding under their huts.

                         

     

Enslaved Africans on a ship https://face2faceafrica.com/article/here-are-gruesome-experiences-faced-by-enslaved-africans-on-ships-across-the-atlantic



Bibliography:

“Researchers recover Africans part in slavery” by CNN
 http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9510/ghana_slavery/
 
“Africa and the transatlantic slave trade” by Dr. Hakim Adi
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/abolition/africa_article_01.shtml




















Bibliography

 “Researchers uncover Africans part in slavery” by Gary Strieker
http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9510/ghana_slavery/

“Africa and the transatlantic slave trade” by Hakim Adi
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/abolition/africa_article_01.shtml

Module 3 Reflection: Enslaved Indians

  While going through this weeks reading A theme I noticed is that Christopher Columbus, Bartolome De Las Casa, and the Queen and King of Spain all have different opinions on Indian enslavement.  In 1415 Las Casa freed his Indian slaves and began to preach against the injustices of Spanish rule. When Christopher Columbus landed on Hispaniola in 1492 he met natives. When he seen the natives he thought about how they could be potential servants. “They ought to be good servants of good intelligence”. Christopher Columbus could have also been involved in the slave trade on the African coast too. He wrote about how the Indians were “fit to be ordered about and made to work, to sow and do everything else that may be needed.... all that they are ordered to do, they will do. Without opposition”. Columbus initiated the practice of tribute. Each Indian male was required to gather and turn in a certain amount of gold every 90 days if not they would get the death penalty. Indians were required to work and accept Christianity. They could be forced to work without technically being enslaved. Christopher Columbus resorted to selling slaves also for more profit, he used the money to buy cattle and supplies,  but wasn’t making as much as he thought he would. The queen and king of Spain disagreed with the enslavement of Indians. When reported to Queen Isabella of Spain she said they were to be treated humanely. By the beginning of the 16th century enslaving Indians became difficult, so they exploited slaves from West Africa. They were a cheaper source of labor and the ocean currents made it easier to transport Africans to the Carribeans.


     Indian Slaves https://iloveancestry.com/rarely-told-history-of-native-american-indian-slavery/




Bibliography:

“Columbus Controversy” by History.com Editors
https://www.history.com/topics/exploration/columbus-controversy

“How Columbus created slave trade that changed world economy” by James C. Clark
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1992-05-17-9205160196-story.html