100% (1)
page:
5 pages/≈1375 words
Sources:
6
Style:
APA
Subject:
History
Type:
Research Paper
Language:
English (U.S.)
Document:
MS Word
Date:
Total cost:
$ 24.3
Topic:

Slavery and Servitude in the Western World

Research Paper Instructions:

RESEARCH PAPER DRAFT ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS

Write a draft of at least the first 5 full pages of your research paper. This must be the actual beginning of the paper, starting with the introduction and the first part of the body. Make sure the introduction states the main thesis and that the rest of the draft starts the process of supporting it. The draft must include a bibliography of at least 6 sources in TURABIAN FORMAT. Use footnotes in Turabian as well.

Research Paper Sample Content Preview:

Slavery and Servitude in the Western World
Student Name
Course Title
Date
Slavery and Servitude in the Western World
When the world regrets that phenomena such as world wars and pandemics had to get in its history, it also looks back and wonders what was going on in the minds of those who entrenched slavery, which was such a direct abuse of the civil rights of individuals and societies. Slavery happened in varying magnitudes and took different forms across cultures, with differing impacts and implications. One of the most conspicuous forms of slavery in history is the transatlantic slave trade, where enslaved Africans were shipped across the Atlantic to America such that they may be used for labor in plantations. Scholars have provided a range of reasons why Africans were preferred over Europeans. This paper aims to research the ideal reasons why Europeans could not enslave even jailed criminals from their homeland but instead go for innocent Africans and subject them to inhuman conditions far from their motherlands and loved ones.
Factors behind Vulnerability of Africans to Slavery in America
According to Eltis (2000,7), one of the main reasons Africans were preferred slavery was their immunity to diseases, especially when pandemics such as smallpox prevailed across the Americas. Such immunity made them more reliable than slaves from other areas who often fell sick and were too feeble to work while others died in significant numbers. Enslaved people from the West Indies and Europe were also not as resilient as those from Africa, and while made to handle strenuous tasks under pressure, they would sink into depression and die (Gonzalez 2021,13). America needed efficient and effective labor after witnessing massive growth in demand for sugar and therefore had to come up with ways of deriving cheap labour, which made them go for this new form of slavery that succeeded slavery seen in the 16th century.[Eltis, David. The rise of African slavery in the Americas. Cambridge University Press, 2000.] [Gonzalez, Jorge Felipe. "The Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Foundation of the Kingdom of Galinhas in Southern Sierra Leone, 1790–1820." The Journal of African History (2021): 1-23.]
Africans have been their enemies for a long and when the Europeans were quite conservative about sending their own for deplorable living in America, the greed of African traders made it extremely easy for Americans to buy them on the West African coast (Bertocchi 2016,7). The high population of Africans being sold to America reduced their prices, and the buyers preferred them over negotiating with brokers from other societies for expensive and unpredictable labor. That greed was supplemented by the military strength of the West and America was undergoing an industrial revolution at an exponential rate while establishing itself as a global challenger in the international community (Eltis 2000,7). Therefore, capitalism was gaining ground among societies and the desire for dominance everywhere and other factors left Africans most vulnerable to the slave traders. The Europeans massed a lot of wealth and status, and at the beginning of the 19th century, they started working to abolish slavery.[Bertocchi, Graziella. "The legacies of slavery in and out of Africa." IZA Journal of Migration 5, no. 1 (2016): 1-19.] [Eltis, David. The rise of African slavery in the Americas. Cambridge University Press, 2000.]
As seen earlier, the main reason why slavery took place was that cheap labor was needed across America and Europe, mainly for agricultural purposes in plantations. Africa at the time was primarily relying on agriculture, as it continues to do today and it, therefore, had experienced farmworkers (Williams 1944,3). There were skilled artisans, unlike in Europe, where the industrial revolution had left the continent too mechanized and interested in manufacturing items needed in the international market. The West Indies was worse since it was a less advanced society made of simple food gatherers with little knowledge for growing crops or keeping animals (Bertocchi 2016,7). Therefore, Africans needed fewer or no instructions and even brought with them more insights to the whites on how some agricultural issues could be handled.[Williams, Eric. "Capitalism and Slavery (London: Andre Deutsch)." Capitalism and Slavery (1944).]
Racial attitudes also played a significant part in sealing the fate of Africans, according to Equiano (2001,17). The generations that have followed must be credited for their extensive efforts in taming racism, which have achieved much success even though racism still happens in lower magnitudes. Africans were seen as inferior to the other races, with others seeing them just as donkeys or camels that needed guidance and control for productivity. Europeans felt that Africans were more suitable for working in the plantations, and killing them when they refused to w...
Updated on
Get the Whole Paper!
Not exactly what you need?
Do you need a custom essay? Order right now:

👀 Other Visitors are Viewing These APA Essay Samples:

Sign In
Not register? Register Now!