Atlantic Slave Trade Dbq

To start the school year one of the first topics we discussed was the transition from the 3 Old Worlds to the New World during the 16th century. During the transition was the exchange of trade, diseases, technology and more which was called the Columbian Exchange. The Natives were ultimately the primary workers when the Europeans invaded their homeland, but because of diseases brought by the Europeans most of the Natives died. Due to the vast decrease of the Natives the Europeans were forced to seek labor from elsewhere, which was Africa. The Trans-Atlantic slave trade was a naval voyage that took place across the Atlantic Ocean during the 15th century through the 19th century. Majority of the slaves were transported to the New World to work …show more content…
To specify my interest, I learned that Europeans would come and take the African-Americans at gunpoint threatening them saying if they tried to run they would shoot them in cold blood. When the slaves were captured they would be chained together by the neck and by the ankles, and was put on the bottom of a ship. The ships the slaves was transported on was generally small, and all the slaves would be chained and squished together. On a typical ship, there would be between 250-600 slaves waiting to see what their future holds which would not be anything positive nor pleasant. One of my secondary sources talks about the tremendous number of slaves that were captured and forced into labor. Before that source, I really did not think that that many people were taken from their home, separated from their families and children, and forced to migrant. Overall, the primary source I choose was very interesting and intriguing. Even though the things many African-Americans went through was cruel and horrible, the things about the boat conditions and how they died because of disease, lack of food and dehumanization is perplexing. To believe that human beings were once capable of being so insensitive and harsh is puzzling to me also. No one should have to endure, witness, and live through the torment and abuse the way African-Americans did no matter the circumstances. The Europeans lacked all the essentials that was needed to produce crops and materials. To conclude, the Trans-Atlantic slave trade was the forced migration of African-Americans. The African’s tribes and homes were invaded and destroyed. They were forced to be separated from their families, and was now living the most dreadful and unrealistic nightmare. The Europeans were lazy, greedy individuals who did not want to work for