AFS Blog #3

AFS Blog #3

     As I read a beginning to understand the history of the slave trade as it started with the Portuguese approximately in the 14^th century.

     Slavery and servitude are two different things. Servitude (Africans) paid for their services, or the money went towards their land usage. (European- Americans) were servants; they could be free, or out of debt. Black or Africans could not be free. Some white man tried to make slavery sound good by changing the context. Slave trade on Africa, one of the riches places was torn apart because of the riches the European, Spaniards, and Portuguese found their families were torn about, government was diminished. Slavery was an economic move for the Europeans and if we go all the way back, when Europeans took land from the Indians, they enslaved them, well white people got the small pox from immigrants (English), and killed a lot of Indians and whites, so the land they had needed someone to work them, to make money.  Well, when they discovered Africa, they did not understand the Africans and thought they lived like savages and were dumb. In some manner they were because they showed them things (tools, etc) they had never seen and had them trade (or assist) in the capturing of other Africans.

     There the Ashanti people they migrated to the southern parts of Ghana, where their population were in the millions. They were labeled and referred to as ignorant and dumb per the Europeans, which was connected to the language of “Twi”.

      In addition there was the Intra-Africa slave trade was defined as “domestic slaves usually became the part of the kinship group of family of their masters (Azevedo, 75).” This also was an example of how women and children were incorporated in the slave owners’ dwellings to do the domestic work such as in the kitchen, house cleaning and servicing the owners.

     Another example from the chapter was the high millions of Africans that were involved in the slave trade and many that did not make it due to unfortunate circumstances.” curtains arguments pay little attention to the same number of lives lost during wars and raids in the interior and Middle Passage (or the long voyage from Africa to the New World)”. (Azevedo, p77)

     During the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade this did not create a friendly or loving atmosphere for many of the Africans. Therefore the Africans grew a hatred for the Europeans and some if the Africans that help plot this madness. They were to blame for many of the downfalls within the race. They were to blame for the separation of families and the downsizing of continued population.