The Slave Trade

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

history. The Islamic civilizations in the fourteen hundreds had a large trade system in which they marched their slaves across the Sahara to areas in the east. Additionally, it was very common amongst competing African tribes that, after a battle, members of the losing side were forced to work as slaves for the victor. Although it is often not displayed in their natural and noble depictions, this was the case as well with many Native American tribes.
The economics of began to make sense in the late fifteenth century as Europe emerged from the “feudal” period, otherwise known as the dark ages. Meanwhile trade was picking up and long overseas voyages were beginning with the discovery of the New World. The Portuguese were the first to establish commercial ties with West Africa. They began by serving as middlemen between the Arabs and Europe. They saw that these Islamic traders were making money in the African trade. In 1492 the Moors were kicked out of Spain. The ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

and sold in order to make a profit.
When America was first discovered and populated there was a huge need for labor. This need helped in many ways to grow American economy. The argument people seemed to be making was, whether or not one liked slavery, it played a very important economic role. According to James Rawly, “black slavery was essential to the carrying on of commerce, which in turn was fundamental to the making of the modern world.” (Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, p. 4) Estimates of the number of Africans enslaved range from eight million to forty million. The number of Africans who died as a result of slavery is substantially higher. It is estimated that between fifty to ...

Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library. Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports, and research papers in 2 minutes or less.

CITE THIS PAGE: