American’s do not typically associate their own history with Africa’s, but once presented with the similarities between the two are impossible to overlook. Slavery is an longstanding human practice, that stretches far back into our world’s history. It has played an enormous role in determining countries economic and cultural past and future. America and Africa have both felt the fire of slavery, and
During the construction of the new world, America used slavery as a means to advance economically. Europeans used slavery long before traveling to the New World, therefore its influence was felt in the early colonial days of America. When the United States did officially break free from Brittan, the relationship between slavery and African American descent was strong. The divide between Caucasian and African American races was obvious in both physical differences and hierarchal standing. After the Revolutionary war, abolitionist laws spread as well as the cotton industry. Slavery was an intimate part of America, being seen as a feasible method in order to advance economically.
Slave trade in Africa had its share of similarities with the Slave Trade resonating in America. A common misconception is that slave trade only existed with European countries and America- but in reality, slave trade was prominent within the boundaries of Africa as well. Africans were known to sell other Africans. For example, tribes could be geographical neighbors but enemies and of different descent. West African kings were known to dominate their neighbors. An illustration of this lies in King Nzinga Mvemba of Congo – who was known as having a strong alliance with Europeans, therefore posessing more power over his neighbors. This cycle of supremacy lead to a vicious cycle of enslavement of neighbors in order to protect their own people.
Slavery generally did not have a positive effect on Africa’s well being. Slavery made societies militaristic and hierarchical, centralized power, and devastated the economy. The practice of slavery was so lucrative that Kings would hold the majority of the wealth, leaving the working class to live in poverty. Slavery also stifles innovation- for with the presence of slaves comes the lack of motivation to come up with innovative solutions to problems.
To contrast with this, America’s slave trade was the backbone of the economy. Most colonial economies in the America’s from the 16th-19th century were dependent on enslaved African labor for survival. According to European colonial officials, the abundant land they had discovered in the Americas was useless without sufficient labor to explore it. The practice of slavery blew up so much so that they became the majority of the colonial populations in the Americas. Of the 6.5 million immigrants who survived the crossing of the Atlantic, only 1 million were Europeans.
I feel as if the idea of slavery and imperialism definitely carry through into current events. Slavery gave African American’s a horrible economic foundation when they became working class people in America, which carries over to the majority of their economic standing today. Once slavery as abolished, it was difficult for African American’s to find a place in the workforce. They were not particularly wanted, because the discrimination against African American’s in society was still a heated issue. Because of this, they were forced to accept low paying jobs that did not provide adequate pay to support themselves or their families. Looking at this from a psychological standpoint, the most accurate predictor of how a child will turn out is dependent on their same sex parent. So it is likely that the son of a father working a low paying job will end up with a low paying job. Unfortunately this has carried through the years, and affected African American’s general economic standing.
In Africa, Slavery demolished cultural standing. For example, the slave trade affected Africa’s culture in a negative fashion. When slaves were sold within neighboring colonies, the culture of those slaves was lost. They were not able to practice previous religions in their new situation. This created new cultural mixes, such as the creation of voo doo, and created new races. It is difficult to deny that slavery in Africa changed the culture, because without it the current culture wouldn’t exist.