The Transatlantic Slave Trade
The Transatlantic Slave Trade occured when people from Africa were captured and forced to work as slaves in the Americas. Many people died during this journey due to harsh conditions. Over the period of the Atlantic Slave Trade, from approximately 1526 to 1867, some 12.5 million people were put on ships in Africa, and 10.7 million arrived in the Americas.
Your task is to analyze 3 different theories that explain why the slave trade might have happened to answer one question: Why did the Transatlantic Slave Trade happen?
Directions: Your task is to read the following three theories that present different beliefs as to why the Transatlantic slave trade happened. You will use the graphic organizer above to determine who the theory is written about, why they allowed the slave trade to happen, and select which one you feel to be the most impactful theory that describes why the slave trade happened.
Theory 1: Whites Viewed Blacks As Inferior
The cause of slavery was racism. Whites in Europe and later the Americas believed that Blacks were not as intelligent as Whites. This allowed them to dehumanize and treat them in such poor ways that they used violence and traded other human beings. This is why enslaved people became almost exclusively Black by the 1700s, as Whites stopped having White indentured servants.
Theory 2: It Made People Very Rich
From the beginning of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, human beings were very valuable and trading enslaved people was very lucrative. Whites in Europe and later the Americas understood that Africans were fellow human beings, but they ignored this, because slavery made them so wealthy. This led to many wealthy slave owners not actually interacting with the enslaved people themselves, but hiring people to be “slave drivers” or overseers to control the enslaved people and run the plantations.
Theory 3: The Christian Religion Allowed It (At the Time)
For many centuries, many Christians believed that non-Christians could be forced into slavery and it was allowed under their religion. This is why some White people enslaved Indigenous and African people (because they practiced other religions). Some people even used verses in the Christian Bible to justify slavery. At the same time, other Christian groups started arguing that the Bible said slavery was wrong and they started to ban it in some states and countries.
Using what you have learned through analyzing the 3 theories and the notes you have taken on your graphic organizer, briefly answer the following question in the box below:
Why did the Transatlantic Slave Trade happen?
