Bricola Johnson

College Composition

March 29, 2012

Professor Peterson

History Presentation

THE TRANS-ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE

RESEARCH QUESTION: HOW DID THE BRUTAL SYSTEM OF THE TRANS-ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE BUILD THE NEW SOCIETY OF AMERICA?

ACADEMIC TITLE:

THE TRANS-ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE: CHANGING THE AMERICAN ECONOMY

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The most horrendous and malicious form of

slavery was The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, but it was neither the first nor the only form of slavery. Expanding the European empires in the New World lacked one major resource, which was a work force. However, the Europeans were unsuited to the climate and suffered greatly under tropical conditions. Also the indigenous people were proved unreliable because most of them were dying from disease brought over from Europe.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION… Fortunately for the Europeans, they found Africans

to be excellent workers: they often had experience of agriculture, used to tropical climate, resistant to diseases, and could be “worked very hard” on plantations and mines. Therefore, the ultimate degradation and dehumanization of The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade began around the mid-fifteenth century. It transported millions of slaves from the west coast of Africa to the American Continent, thus, beginning a significantly major part of human history.

THESIS:

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was one of the most brutal and malicious forms of slavery, that was used by selfish Europeans to help build the new society of America.

SUPPORT: “The Atlantic trade was the only one, although a

major, influence on the transformation of society. The majority of Africans would have been performing the same tasks in the same socioeconomic environment, if there had been no trading contact with Europe.” (Lovejoy 375)

SUPPORT CONTINUED… “The eighteenth century saw the peak of the

Atlantic Slave Trade, but increased size brought increased complexity. Since the ethnic make-up of a particular New World Colony depended partly on ethic market- preferences in that colony, the most effective guide to the changing source of the English Slave Trade as a whole is a series of samples that indicate the distribution of shipping.” (Curtin 56)

SUPPORT CONTINUED… “The slave trade, together with ‘taxation’, was

institutionally distinct from markets and the local trade carried out in village markets was an entirely separate entity. The taxes used for the slave trade fulfill, primarily, an economic function; without them there would be no roads, education, garbage collection, ect.” (Ronen 9)

REASON WHY I SELECTED THIS TOPIC: I Wanted to know how slavery began in America.

Why the system of the Atlantic slave trade was used.

How did it effect the American economy.

How where the Africans being treated while this system was being used.

LEARNING OUTCOME!

SIGNIFICANCE TO HISTORY The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade is significant to

history because it industrialized the American society.

It was a harsh and brutal form of slavery, however because of this malicious act we as a nation can live together in “Liberty”.

WORK CITED

Curtin, Philip D. The Atlantic: A Census. Madison, Milwaukee, and London: The

University of Wisconsin Press, 1969Lovejoy, Paul E. “The Impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade on

Africa: A Review of the Literature.” The Journal of African History, vol. 30, no. 3 (1989): pp. 365-394.

Ronen, Dov, “On the African Role in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in Dahomey.”

Caheirs d’Etudes Africaines, Vol. 11, Caheir 41(1971): pp. 5-13.