Slavery in the Atlantic Economy
Slavery in the Atlantic Economy
In the Atlantic economy, slavery was essential because it was the backbone of the economy. Slaves were individuals who were taken from African countries and transported overseas using water transport, which was the main form of transportation in the 18th century. The concept of slavery did not start in the 18th century.
Nevertheless, it was during the 18th century that the slave trade helped improve the economy for the Europeans. During the time, the Europeans had thrived in terms of technology since they had better tools for war such as the firearms as compared to the Africans who used inferior tools for war. Fascinated by the firearms, they engaged in trade with the Europeans, who were the primary suppliers of such items. According to Foner (136), in return, they were given slaves, who helped enhance their economy in several ways. Therefore, the slaves were an essential asset to the Atlantic economy during the 18th century Slavery in the Atlantic Economy.
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The Atlantic economy acquired slaves through batter trade. Usually, the Europeans would approach the leaders of the kingdoms at the time and give them firearms in exchange for the slaves. The leaders of the kingdoms, especially in West Africa, used the firearms to acquire more slaves from the villages so that they could maintain their trade relationship with the Europeans. “From a minor institution, slavery grew to become more and more central to West African society, a source of wealth for African merchants and of power for newly emerging African kingdoms.” (Foner 137). The slaves were transported through the “middle passage” using a ship where they were shackled together because they were many, as noted by Foner (137). During this time, the British had established three different slave systems in their colonies. They included, “tobacco-based plantation slavery in the Chesapeake, rice-based plantation slavery in South Carolina and Georgia, and non-plantation slavery in New England and the Middle Colonies” (Foner 138). Most of the slaves were transported to Brazil, where increased slaves were required to labour in the sugar plantations Slavery in the Atlantic Economy.
Sugar was considered the main trading commodity during the 18th century. Additionally, agricultural produce were major commodities that were used during the trade. The Europeans had found vast tracts of land in their newly acquired colonies and required slaves to work on them. Since agricultural products such as tobacco and sugar formed the basis of most of the trading activities, more of the produce was required, and the only way to account for that was through the use of slaves. Therefore, the Atlantic economy could not have thrived without the presence of the slaves in the plantations where they worked for many hours. As slavery expanded, so did the people become wealthy as a result of the thriving economy. “As slavery expanded, planters engrossed the best lands and wealth among the white population became more and more concentrated” (Foner 139). The introduction of rice helped develop the Atlantic economy, as noted by Foner (141). For this reason, there was a large-scale importation of slaves who were required to work in the rice farms. Facing the American Revolution, which jeopardized slavery, the European tobacco markets for Virginia were negatively affected, mainly because most of the northern states had already begun abolishing slavery, which was the primary source of labor in the farms.
In summary, the presence of the slave trade was effective in the development of the Atlantic economy. Slaves were acquired mostly from the African countries, especially West Africa, where the merchants exchanged the slaves for firearms. Using the guns, they managed to acquire more slaves, which helped build kingdoms within Africa. The Europeans had many colonies where they took the slaves to work in their newly acquired farms. Agricultural results such as tobacco, sugar, and rice were the main components of the trade. Therefore, additional slaves were requisite to toil in the plantations. The importance of the slaves was acknowledged during the American Revolution when Virginia’s European tobacco markets were affected because the abolition of slavery had started in the northern parts Slavery in the Atlantic Economy.
Work Cited
Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty! An American History: Seagull Fourth Edition. Vol. 1. WW Norton & Company, 2013.
