Journey of Slavery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Journey of Slavery - Essay Example America was discovered by Spanish explorer, Columbus in the 16th century, who had developed good relations with the native Indian population. But the early 17th century saw the process of colonization by the British settlers who had brought shipload of African slaves as bonded labors to work on plantation and elsewhere. They also tried to exploit the native Americans with respect to labor and sea faring activities The indentured labor consisting of European workers, worked as bonded laborers who were freed after several years so as to payoff their passage to a new country. The slaves worked in labor intensive tobacco plantations along with Native Americans who later refused to work because they were afflicted with diseased like tuberculosis etc. which were brought by the settlers. The slave trading was started by the Portuguese in 1572 when they had gone to west Coast of Africa where the tribal wars resulted in captives Africans who were traded as slaves in the European market (Liu). The African tribes were skilled farmers who were also known for their intricate art work on metal and wood. Thus the Europeans were able to exploit their skill by buying them and using their skilled labor for free. The slaves were denied basic human dignity of good living condition and food. When new world was discovered, the slaves were transported to the new world by the whites. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century in America, the color of the skin played a major role in the social status. The whites maintained a racial divide within the society through deliberate use of powerful lobby of the whites and financial advantages that they enjoyed over their less privileged counterparts, the Native Americans. The blacks were not allowed to participate in social activities and even education was denied to them so that they would remain unequal socially and economically. Turn of the century saw the raced based