Slavery in Early America

Introduction

Slavery in the United States began shortly after the first settlers of British in Virginia and ends with the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. There is a long history of slavery of the black people in the United States. Numerous of the black people were captured and transported to United States where they were sold as slaves. The African Americans faced many hurdles and struggles to fight this slavery and to win their rights. These black slaves were badly treated by the white people. Many of the generations passed away in slavery for the white people. The slaves were told that they are born to serve the white people as they were their Gods. They were made to believe that slavery is their destiny and is for their betterment. They went through worst of conditions and endured harassments, abuse and pain for many years. The history of slavery in the early America dates back to many years which gradually came to an end when the blacks got their rights.

Background

The slavery is a phenomenon that dates back to antiquity and lasted in the end of the nineteenth century. This phenomenon of slavery was prevalent in the ancient native civilization of Africa like the Empire of Songhai. The slaves were captured from the Sub-Saharan Africa and were sold around the world. This trade occurred historically along several directions: first through the Sahara to the North Africa, then from the African coast of the Indian Ocean countries to the Arab and East, and finally to the European colonies in the Americas (McQuade et al, pp. 327). African countries after constant resistance finally were able to abolish slavery, and therefore (theoretically) the end of the slave trade took place in the era immediately preceding the colonial partition of the continent. Women slaves faced worst fate as they were discriminated for being a woman and that too, a black woman. Slavery emerged and spread in societies that have fallen to the agricultural production. On the one hand, this production, especially in the primitive technology, requires a very significant investment of labor, on the other; the worker can produce significantly more than is necessary to sustain his life. Use of slave labor was economically justified and, of course, is widespread. Then there was the slave system, which existed for centuries at least since the ancient times up to the XVIII century, and sometimes even longer.

There were numerous slaves who tried protesting against this discrimination and slavery. Many of the slaves rebelled against their owners and were punished and tortured. Mostly they rebelled for a certain period of time. They merely flared up, disobeyed their owners and ran away. However, they were eventually captured by the white people and were either returned to their owners or were sold to new owners (Bales & Soodalter, pp. 75). There were many slaves who started to rebel violently. In self-defense or revenge, or maddened by cruelty and frustration, they recklessly ignored the ...