Argumentative Essay

Nowell 1
Coleman Nowell
Mrs. Bennett
Humanities II Period 4
19th January 2015
Argumentative Essay: The Transatlantic Slave Trade
The impact of slavery on the world on an economic scale is simply undeniable, as

it was one of the main contributors to the heavy industrialization in Europe and
jumpstarting both colonial and mainland economies for todays most powerful countries,
namely Britain. Love it or hate it, without slavery, the world would be an entirely
different place, most likely being less economically stable but more stable on the social
side. The people have portrayed slavery both favorably and unfavorably over the years.
The most common and mainstream idea of the two is that slavery is completely
dehumanizing and, in the widely Christian ideal, ungodly, for that the slave himself is
taken away all of his basic rights and any respect or recognition whatsoever. Though this
point of view is very easy to both understand and utilize, the opinion can be just as easily
viewed as overly sympathetic and ignorant. The Trans-Atlantic slave trade was one of the
very key events that occurred in history that set the basis for America, and to claim that it
was immoral, while very widely accepted to be so, is also to completely neglect that with
using this practice, a nation can be created at two or three times the speed with an
unimaginable larger amount of wealth for the nation to utilize. Though for wellestablished and experienced nations the idea of slavery is immoral and frowned upon, it
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is completely beyond all logic to say that is not essential for creating a stable and
profitable economy.
Slavery, just like resources, motivation and trade, is a core element of setting the
groundwork for any economy that is to be powerful in the future, and this simply cannot
be ignored. Many of todays most powerful and controlling of economies became as
dominant as they are in the world today due to the use of African slaves for labor in order
to boost their economies, such as the US, France, Spain, England and Portugal, just to
name a few. The cause of this widespread use of African slaves is simple; they were about
as immune to diseases as whites, they were cheap, and there were millions of them.
According to The Transatlantic Slave Trade and American Slavery by Ellen Bucy, the
slaves were mainly used in plantations all over the world, becoming backbones of the
workforce and were especially important as a labor supply for the "plantation"
agriculture that developed in the New World (Bucy 5). Without the inception of the
slave trade, the economy, while not completely doomed, would have developed at an
incredibly slower rate, pitting us from where we are now as far as technology and
economy all the way back to perhaps even the pre-1800s. The economy of the United
States, for example, practically built itself on the use of slaves to do the dirty work. The
point is usually ignored that one would most likely rather be able to feed their children by
making a living in the cotton business than otherwise. The use of slavery in the days of
infancy for the United States was not a decision or opinion, it was a way of life, for that
the entire economy of the south was built completely upon it.
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Those that think that slavery is immoral and unjust clearly dont see through their
own hypocrisy, as almost the entirety of those that preached liberty uncaringly and
publicly owned several slaves of their own. For those that still care to argue against
slavery, hear this; The Mount Vernon estate; home to George Washington, one of the most
iconic figures of liberty; housed 318 slaves at the time of his death. The United States of
America, a country that day after day preaches liberty and freedom, was built upon the
practice of slavery. One may argue that slaves in the days of colonialism were treated
poorly and were completely disregarded like animals. To argue this, however, is to ignore
what type of society the slaves came from. Slavery in Africa has and still does exist in
many areas, such as Ethiopia, Madagascar, and Mali. In fact, many African states needed
the money to survive. According to African Voices of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Beyond
the Silence and the Shame by Anne Bailey, many of the kings in Africa, such as Benin,
were able to maintain control over [their] end of the trade and [the leaders] dictated
[their] terms to the Europeans on which they wanted to trade (Bailey, 63). This reveals
that though the individual people who were traded off suffered somewhat, the states in
Africa were already in distress themselves, and the boost to the African economy
ultimately helped both sides of the world in both an economic and social way. As a result
of the slaves arriving in the Americas, many Africa cultures and practices mixed and
found new birth in these new places. On top of this, the ancestors of said slaves (Now
African Americans) now live in a safe and prosperous society, and it is safe to say that
these present-day Americans would rather their ancestors have suffered greatly over
centuries then having them still be living in Africa, now the practical laughing stock of
the world on an economic scale.
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Slavery is extremely important in building stable and prosperous states and
economies. Yes, it is widely considered to be immoral and unjust, but in the long run the
practice has led to many of the worlds current superpowers becoming the way they are
today. We can look back on the Transatlantic Slave Trade and sit back and call it
dehumanizing and ungodly; and while this may be true to an extent, no African American
today or their great grandparents can say theyve been forced to work for a slave owner,
and instead they most likely live a prosperous life. Slavery may be immoral in many
ways, but in the long run it helps the world tremendously on an economic scale, for social
relations with race are much easier to deal with than a lack of money.
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Argumentative Essay: The Transatlantic Slave Trade

The impact of slavery on the world on an economic scale is simply undeniable, as

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