The African Experience in America

Introduction 

The enslavement of Africans by the Americans in the 18 th and 19 th centuries defined the limits and the nature of American liberty. Slavery in the United Stated greatly influenced the creation and the development pf the major social and political institutions that are currently available in the U. S 1 . Slavery was the cornerstone that the fueled the prosperity of the U.S through industrial revolution. Slavery is not just an event in the U.S history, but it its central to the history of the United States. The effects of slavery are far-reaching and its consequences can be felt today. From the persistent and wide legal and social economic disparities that continue to plague African-Americans to the backlash that seems to follow every African-American advancement to trace their toots to slavery and the consequences of its aftermath 2 . Africans were not the only people to enslaved in the Americas, the colonial powers also enslaved the native people. The triangular trade between Africa, Europe and the new world can be described as the most lucrative of the mercantile economy. 

The primary goal of mercantilism was to keep each country self-sufficient economically. Within this framework the principal role of the colony was the provision of raw materials to the mother country which it could not produce for itself and to be a market for the consumption of the manufactured goods that were produced within the mother country 3 . While the economic benefits in the slave trade were great, so was the number of human losses. There are no accurate statistics concerning the slave trade but it is estimated that at least 15 million Africans or even more were enslaved in the New World. The mortality rates among the slaves was also high and it is estimated that close to 5 percent of the slaves died while in transit on the African cost while another 15 percent died while in transit to the West Indies, and another 30 percent died during the three-month season period in the West Indies 4 . Based on these statistics, it is evident that about 50 percent of the slaves captured in Africa either died in transit or while being prepared for servitude. 

Slavery as Capitalism 

The enslavement of Africans and the slave system in the Americas is unique in human history. Many at times the slaves were treated cruelly and at times with kindness. Slaves were either used as a sign of influence or as a way of displaying one’s wealth and the enjoyment of luxury rather than as a means for the systematic accumulation of wealth. The institution of slavery existed in the Americas long before black slaves. Slavery existed in hierarchical societies where slaves were put at the bottom of the social ladder and categorized as the most inferior in a society of equals 5 . Each society normally preferred to choose its slaves from alien people but it was not limited to exclusively to members of a particular race. The inferiority of slaves did not necessarily lead to racial inferiority in the hierarchical societies but in contrast the slavery in the Americas was set part by the characteristics of capitalism, individualism and racism. 

In America, the degree of depressurization and dehumanization was increased by capitalism to the institution of slavery. It was normal for slaves to be legally defied as a thing or a price of property but in America it was taken a notch higher where slavery became a form of capital. American masters were mainly focused on minimizing expenses and the maximization of profits. In the 1660s, the price of tobacco declined sharply and this drove small white farmers to the wall as only the farmers with capital could engage in large-scale production of tobacco. In order to fill the need for labor, the colonial legislature passed laws that gave slavery a legal justification. In addition to legalizing slave trade, Charles II granted a royal charter that established a company that would be used to transport African slaves across the Indian ocean thereby increasing the supply of slaves to the colonial large-scale farmers. Individualism was another unique factor in the institution of American slavery 6 . In addition to being at the bottom of the social ladder, the slaves in America were inferior among equals. America had presented itself as a country that recognized individual worth and by providing room for talent development but the slaves were given little or no opportunity at all to develop their skills. 

Racism is the third characteristic that defined the institution of slavery in America. All slaves were Africans and almost all Africans were slaves America. The label of inferiority was placed on African culture and black skin 7 . This led to growth of white superiority and the rise of black inferiority where the Americans imposed these racial beliefs on the Africans. In addition to teaching the slaves to despise their own culture and history, the American masters inculcated their own belief system to the Africans. 

Slavery was part of the American community through the end of the Civil War. The slaves were found all through the nation, but more slaves were present in the South. The Southern plantation farmers and owners heavily depended on slaves for labor and firm belief that they required slaves to maintain a robust economy. Crops including cotton and tobacco were a critical part of the economy of the South. Nonetheless, they were also difficult to grow due to the numbers of individuals needed in planting and harvesting. The Northern economy depended on much more on industry and production. In the course of time, there was the elimination of slavery in the North which was made possible by the minimal reliance on slave labor in the region. Southern slaves made up majority of the population in the area 8 . Many of these slaves resided on plantations both large and small. Slaveholders desired to make their slaves extremely reliant on them. Restrictive codes were used in governing the lives of the slaves. They were often prevented from learning to read and write. Slaves’ movements and behavior were limited. 

Many masters derived sexual pleasure from slave women, and they rewarded those who were obedient with favor. The insubordinate subjects were given brutal punishments. There was a rigid system used for these slaves. This system helped in monitoring their situation and keeping them in check. It was near impossibility for them to rebel against their masters. There was no legality of slave marriages. However, the slaves married and raised large families. Then there was the issue of slave rebellions. These happened within the system but only a few accomplished successes. The slave revolt by Nat Turner scared the white slaveholders in 1831 August. The 75 blacks killed around 60 whites within two days of armed resistance before they were overwhelmed. The supporters of slavery referenced to the rebellion of Turner as proof of the inferiority of the blacks and claimed they needed the rigid slavery institution for maintenance of control. Fears of rebellions made the southern governments to bolster their laws and regulations on slaves as a measure of limiting their movement, assembly and education. In the North, the Southern blacks' suppression increased the growing support for the abolitionist movement. From 1830s-1860s, the abolitionist movement in America became even stronger through the leadership of Frederick Douglas and William Lloyd Garrison. 

The Missouri Compromise 

The Act was aimed at addressing the political and sectional contentions after Missouri asked to join the league of slaveholding states. USA had 22 nations, and acceptance of Missouri would not strike this balance. The explosive growth of America resulted in increasing disagreement over the practice of slavery and its future limitation 9 . There was a controversy on the federal government’s right in limiting the practice of slavery in light of admission of Missouri. This state was then admitted as a slave state. Although this Missouri Compromise was formulated to attain a balance, it assisted in quelling forces of division 

Kansas-Nebraska Act 

This was introduced in 1850 to provide solutions to slavery practice in areas won in the Mexican-American War. After 4 years, the Kansas-Nebraska Act paved the way for slavery to all new territories as it asserted the rule of popular sovereignty over the congressional announcement. The Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, 30th May. It gave people in these territories of Nebraska and Kansas to make decisions for themselves if to allow slavery in their borders or not 10 . This Act repealed the 1820 Missouri Compromise. This resulted in revolts from the anti-slavery forces in Kansas which was a new state. The North did not approve of the Act, and this led to the birth of a Republican Party in the North. The Dred Scott case led to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise as it ruled that every territory was open to slavery. 

The Civil War 

In the following year, the South reached the threshold after Abraham Lincoln; the Republican Candidate was chosen as the President. This led to 7 Southern states seceding from the Confederate States of America. The anti-slavery perceptions of Lincoln were very well established. However, the objectives of the Central Union war were not abolishing slavery but the preservation of the U.S. Abolition was a later objective because of the necessity of the military, the raising of awareness for many blacks led to fleeing from enslavement. On the 22 nd September 1862, Lincoln provided a preliminary emancipation proclamation 11 . In 1863, 1 st January, he officially stated that every slave in each state should be free forever. The goal of the Emancipation Proclamation extends beyond the issue of human rights. Lincoln considered it necessary to bring the Civil War to an end by winning it. The goal of the Emancipation Proclamation was to encourage those states which rebelled to rejoin the Union. The Emancipation Proclamation did not lead to an ultimatum on the issue of slavery. This happened after the 13 th Amendment was passed after the Civil War came to an end. Over 186000 black soldiers joined up with the Union Army and over 38000 died. Regardless of observing a significant degree of participation of blacks in the political life, the Reconstruction was finally frustrating for the black population. The former slaves had their rights recognized and guaranteed in the Constitution 12 . However, these Constitutional provisions were not considered. It was hard for the freed slaves to participate in the economy after the war because of the harsh laws and codes. A hundred years later, the resistance to lingering discrimination and racism in the U.S. started in the era of slavery. It would result in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. This would accomplish the highest social and political benefits for African-Americans from the time of Reconstruction. 

Modern Day Slavery 

The institution of slavery did not end with its abolition in the 19 th century, instead slavery changed its forms and continues to plague people in every country in the world. More than 250 years have passed since the end of the transatlantic slave trade but close to 41 million people are still imprisoned by some of form slavery across the world today 13 . The victims of modern-day slavery can be described as very vulnerable, poor and marginalized. They are unaware of their transaction of terms and their process of enslavement 14 . The perpetrators of modern-day slavery exploit the incompleteness of transactions or contracts in terms of the immense information gap that is between them and the victims and the desperate state that the enslaveables are in that results from their vulnerability, ignorance and the absence of viable alternatives 15 . Whether ether are men forced to work in construction, women forced into early marriages and prostitution, children forced to work in swetshops or girls forced to marry older men. The lives of these men, women and children are controlled by their exploiters and they no longer have the freedom of choice but have to do what they are told to do. 

Most people do not know that all these forms of slavery exist and that they are hidden from the general public and people who believe that slavery is not possible under modern conditions. The years is 2018 but there is a continuing legacy of slavery and its impacts on the relationship between black and white people (individual and structural racism) and the development of poorer African countries is the subject of current debate. The most significant forms of slavery in the world today include child labor, descent base slavery, enforced precipitation in armed conflict and debt bondage 16 . 

Modern-day slavery takes up many forms and can affect people of any gender, race or age. Modern-day slavery largely affects communities and people who are vulnerable of being taken advantage of. Slavery is not in the past, it is in the headlines 17 . Recent events have revealed how American schools have failed to teach the essential and critical portion of the nation’s legacy- the history and continued impact of chattel slavery. Most of the students in high school to not know about the history of slavery with only 10 percent being able to identify it as the central cause of the civil war. The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that there were more than 40 million people who were victims of modern slavery and one in four of these were children. The findings by ILO also estimated that more than 25 million people were in forced labor made to work under coercion or threat and 15 million people were in forced marriages. It is not clear how many people are living in modern day slavery as different studies have provided different estimates and for this reason modern day slavery is a hidden crime that is difficult to identify. 

The psychological damage that one endures while enslaved are severe without proper guidance and education they are forced back into slavery. Individuals forced into modern day slavery lack the means to support themselves and the institutions that were meant to protect them from such atrocities are doing little or nothing at all to end their suffering. It is very unfortunate that many do not know how to change their circumstances if they were into slavery. The Berlin Declaration of 1885 was a multinational agreement that outlawed slave trade. However, the agreement lacked the practical measures on how the provisions of the agreement would be enforced. There are still millions of slaves in the world today. The issue of slavery is way too complex for governments to deal with this epidemic alone. In order to achieve the efficiency that is required, governments should work with international government organizations to help alleviate the problem. Modern-day slavery affects different countries in different ways and therefore it is important for these countries to cooperate with one another in order to combat contemporary slavery or else it will develop into new and more hidden forms of slavery. 

Bibliography 

Baptist, Edward. 2016. The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and The Making of American Capitalism . New York: Basic Books. 

Charles River Editors . 2015. The Transatlantic Slave Trade: The History and Legacy of The System That Brought Slaves to The New World . Michigan: Charles River Editors. 

Ştefănoaia, Mihai. 2015. "Modern-Day Slavery – Human Trafficking In The 21St Century". International Conference KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANIZATION 21 (2): 505-511. 

Weitzer, Ronald. 2015. "Human Trafficking and Contemporary Slavery". Annual Review of Sociology 41 (1): 223-242. doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-073014-112506. 

1 . Charles River Editors . 2015. The Transatlantic Slave Trade: The History and Legacy of The System That Brought Slaves to The New World . Michigan: Charles River Editors. 

2 . Charles River Editors , The Transatlantic Slave Trade: The History and Legacy of The System That Brought Slaves to The New World . 

3 . Charles River Editors , The Transatlantic Slave Trade: The History and Legacy of The System That Brought Slaves to The New World . 

4 . Charles River Editors , The Transatlantic Slave Trade: The History and Legacy of The System That Brought Slaves to The New World . 

5 . Charles River Editors , The Transatlantic Slave Trade: The History and Legacy of The System That Brought Slaves to The New World . 

6 . Baptist, Edward. 2016. The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and The Making of American Capitalism . New York: Basic Books. 

7 . Baptist, Edward , The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and The Making of American Capitalism . 

8 . Baptist, Edward , The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and The Making of American Capitalism 

9 . Baptist, Edward , The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and The Making of American Capitalism 

10 . Baptist, Edward , The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and The Making of American Capitalism 

11 . Baptist, Edward , The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and The Making of American Capitalism 

12 . Baptist, Edward , The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and The Making of American Capitalism 

13 . Weitzer, Ronald. 2015. "Human Trafficking and Contemporary Slavery". Annual Review of Sociology 41 (1): 223-242. doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-073014-112506. 

14 . Ştefănoaia, Mihai. 2015. "Modern-Day Slavery – Human Trafficking in The 21St Century". 

15 . Weitzer, Ronald. "Human Trafficking and Contemporary Slavery". 

16 . Weitzer, Ronald. 2015. "Human Trafficking and Contemporary Slavery". 

17 . Ştefănoaia, Mihai. 2015. "Modern-Day Slavery – Human Trafficking in the 21St Century". International Conference KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANIZATION 21 (2): 505-511.