How Did The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Change Over Time

Although some may say that since the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade from 1450-1800’s slavery has changed or ended, it really has stayed the same due to modern forms of slavery such as, bonded labor, sex trafficking, and child labor that still exist. The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was developed by the existing system of slave trade in African Kingdoms. Demand and need for more slaves lead to active participation in obtaining slaves by African Kingdoms. European explorers found slavery as a popular custom with advantages in many countries, which influenced Europe to make slavery a strong trade and monetary investment to its colonies. Therefore, in 1441 Europe started trading slaves in Africa. “From about 1500 to about 1865, millions of Africans
In 1807, the British government passed an Act called the Act of Parliament, which abolished slave trade throughout the British Empire. Then in the U.S., Virginia, in 1778, became the first state to stop the importation of slaves for sale. It made it a crime for someone to bring in a slave from out of state or overseas for sale. The new law freed all slaves brought in illegally, and imposed fines on the violators. Although state and federal governments opposed slavery, it was still perpetuated by individuals. An example would be how Africans use other African slaves for work because that is the only way the slave can pay off a debt, but they never get out of this debt because they don’t get paid with money, but with food and shelter that the person needs, so the debt continues to grow. This is bonded labor, which is one of the forms of modern
Bonded labor is the most widespread, but least known kind of slavery. A person becomes a bonded laborer when their labor is used as a repayment for a loan. The person is tricked or trapped into working for very little or no pay. Bonded labor is most prevalent in India along with Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. “Today the International Labour Organisation estimates a minimum 11.7 million people are in forced labour in the Asia-Pacific region, the majority of these are in debt bondage.” (DotMailer). Debt can be inherited or created by the person itself. The person who's in debt works for the person that they owe the money to. However, when working, the debt is impossible to pay back. The person works without actually being paid for the work, and is unable to leave. The person needs food, shelter, and water so the debt grows, making it impossible for it to be paid back. One example is that in India Dolamani Bagh took out a loan from a rich landlord so him and his wife, Mathura, could get married. To repay the loan they both had to do agricultural work on the landlord’s farm for seven years, and their only payment was 8-10 sacks of grain per year. Another example is Bitu and his entire family worked at a brick kiln in rural India. They lived and worked at the kiln and, needing more money to survive, they continually borrowed more money from the owner, which then pushed them further and