The first Africans imported to the English colonies were also called “indentured servants” or “apprentices for life”. By the middle of the seventeenth century, they and their offspring were legally the property of their owners. As property, they were merchandise or units of labor, and were sold at markets with other goods and services.
The Portuguese were the first to engage in the New World slave trade, and others soon followed. Slaves were considered cargo by the ship owners, to be transported to the Americas as quickly and cheaply as possible, there to be sold to labor in coffee, tobacco, cocoa, cotton and sugar plantations, gold and silver mines, rice fields, construction industry, cutting timber for ships, and as house servants.
The Portuguese were the first to engage in the New World slave trade, and others soon followed. Slaves were considered cargo by the ship owners, to be transported to the Americas as quickly and cheaply as possible, there to be sold to labor in coffee, tobacco, cocoa, cotton and sugar plantations, gold and silver mines, rice fields, construction industry, cutting timber for ships, and as house servants.
The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was the most abominable and cruel from of slavery, but it was neither the first nor the only slave trade. Slavery was a recognized institution around the world long before the Egyptians enslaved the Jews. Arabs raided European countries and captured white slaves which they sold in Africa. By the 18th century, a large part of the European population were descendants of serfs and slaves. In other words, slavery was not just about the black people who endured the Middle Passage. It was a part of human history.Worldwide, domestic slavery was the most common form of enslavement. Rich men had slaves in their households, and, in some societies, the number of slaves determined his social status. In West Africa, severe forms of slavery existed. The slaves were usually men and women captured in war whose labor led to surplus production and whose numbers amplified the armies of imperial expansion. In most parts, slaves born within the master's household were better treated than war captives or trade slaves--often as members of the family. Slaves could occasionally rise to positions of importance or buy their own freedom. Nonetheless, a master had ultimate power over his slave.
