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Transition throughout slavery Religion, Economics, and Race The Trans- Atlantic Slave trade was a time where slavery was based upon many factors that shaped culture and religious views. Those reasons being slavery based upon religion, economics, and superiority based on skin color. These aspects would determine whether or a person could be enslaved and the quality of life that they would live. Basic knowledge of the slave trade illustrates the harsh reality of slavery. But this did not all happen at once this occurred throughout the slave trade in sequence. This sequence lead to slavery throughout Europe and the Caribbean. At the beginning of the slave trade slavery was based upon religious practices. Europeans could enslave people based upon moral or religious beliefs. This was a conversion tactic that was used to include people into a society. There were also people that were considered slaves but did not have the status of a slave they were called indentured servants. These people were people that had to serve slave type labor because they were felons. If a person chose to convert they could lose their slave status. Although slavery has a bad name the slaves at this time were not treated has horribly as later in the slave trade when slave were being brought to the Americas. According to Kathryn Burns, this was a term called “religious racism”, which also occurred in Spain when Muslims and Jews converted to Christianity but were stigmatized and the Jews were labeled as “bad whites.” The Spanish saw this a being okay because it was justified through the bible in the reading of Ham. At this point it was clear that skin color would determine your fate even if a person converted to the same religious practices. During the cultivation of sugar many workers were needed and those who were the best were the Africans. But at this time Africans did not have an understanding of race. Early signs of slavery based on race was apparent when Euopeans made the distinction that Africans were better slaves because of their physical features. Many African leaders would compromise with European leaders for many reason the main one being for economical purposes. Many people assume “African leaders were simply immoral and greedy, selling out their own people for short-term gains” (Lindsay, 55). The truth to this situation is that these were not their own people that were being sold they were captives. Even during this time slavery was still just part of a business among different cultures. This leads into the next factor slavery, and this is slavery being a means of production to drive the economy and help the Europeans and Africans both come out with a mutual agreement; slaves for goods. When sugar was a large necessity it was very important to have good workers that had a very high longevity and also where not expensive. Europeans believed that Africans were the best for this because they were adapted to the harsh climate. Though it was much less expensive for Europeans to use their own people they could purchase a slave for life and he could be owned. By owning a slave you could have slaves for life because they could reproduce but, their children would still be the owner’s property be born into slavery. It was a business but as said before all Africans did not suffer from the slave trade most of the elite took advantage of the trade opportunity that it offered for their own people. Through this transition superiority started to form race boundaries primarily among the Europeans. Eventually slavery formed racism and this became apparent when the Europeans truly disregarded Africans as human and easily replicable. It lead to curl and harsh treatment towards the people who were enslaved. Many of the people who had been enslaved were viewed as being non-human or animalistic. This was most obvious between the Europeans and Africans. Racism over time created outsiders those who were not of the same skin or ancestry. This really pushed people to strive for acceptance. In Spain there where people who went to such extremes as trying to get passed off as being white. Twinam, describes people trying to “purchase whiteness.” In the reading of Twinam, he discusses many people trying to pass as white or be accepted as white because they would get better treatment as those who were white. Race lead to a domino effect of cruelty that lead into the Americas and tons of death among the African community.

Transition throughout slavery Religion, Economics, and Race
Transition throughout slavery Religion, Economics, and Race The Trans- Atlantic Slave trade was a time where slavery was based upon many factors that shaped culture and religious views. Those reasons being slavery based upon religion, economics, and superiority based on skin color. These aspects would determine whether or a person could be enslaved and the quality of life that they would live. Basic knowledge of the slave trade illustrates the harsh reality of slavery. But this did not all happen at once this occurred throughout the slave trade in sequence. This sequence lead to slavery throughout Europe and the Caribbean. At the beginning of the slave trade slavery was based upon religious practices. Europeans could enslave people based upon moral or religious beliefs. This was a conversion tactic that was used to include people into a society. There were also people that were considered slaves but did not have the status of a slave they were called indentured servants. These people were people that had to serve slave type labor because they were felons. If a person chose to convert they could lose their slave status. Although slavery has a bad name the slaves at this time were not treated has horribly as later in the slave trade when slave were being brought to the Americas. According to Kathryn Burns, this was a term called “religious racism”, which also occurred in Spain when Muslims and Jews converted to Christianity but were stigmatized and the Jews were labeled as “bad whites.” The Spanish saw this a being okay because it was justified through the bible in the reading of Ham. At this point it was clear that skin color would determine your fate even if a person converted to the same religious practices. During the cultivation of sugar many workers were needed and those who were the best were the Africans. But at this time Africans did not have an understanding of race. Early signs of slavery based on race was apparent when Euopeans made the distinction that Africans were better slaves because of their physical features. Many African leaders would compromise with European leaders for many reason the main one being for economical purposes. Many people assume “African leaders were simply immoral and greedy, selling out their own people for short-term gains” (Lindsay, 55). The truth to this situation is that these were not their own people that were being sold they were captives. Even during this time slavery was still just part of a business among different cultures. This leads into the next factor slavery, and this is slavery being a means of production to drive the economy and help the Europeans and Africans both come out with a mutual agreement; slaves for goods. When sugar was a large necessity it was very important to have good workers that had a very high longevity and also where not expensive. Europeans believed that Africans were the best for this because they were adapted to the harsh climate. Though it was much less expensive for Europeans to use their own people they could purchase a slave for life and he could be owned. By owning a slave you could have slaves for life because they could reproduce but, their children would still be the owner’s property be born into slavery. It was a business but as said before all Africans did not suffer from the slave trade most of the elite took advantage of the trade opportunity that it offered for their own people. Through this transition superiority started to form race boundaries primarily among the Europeans. Eventually slavery formed racism and this became apparent when the Europeans truly disregarded Africans as human and easily replicable. It lead to curl and harsh treatment towards the people who were enslaved. Many of the people who had been enslaved were viewed as being non-human or animalistic. This was most obvious between the Europeans and Africans. Racism over time created outsiders those who were not of the same skin or ancestry. This really pushed people to strive for acceptance. In Spain there where people who went to such extremes as trying to get passed off as being white. Twinam, describes people trying to “purchase whiteness.” In the reading of Twinam, he discusses many people trying to pass as white or be accepted as white because they would get better treatment as those who were white. Race lead to a domino effect of cruelty that lead into the Americas and tons of death among the African community.

Works Cited eds, A. B. (n.d.). Race and Identity in COlonial Latin America. In I. Silverblatt, Imperial Subjects. Duke Univerity Press. Greer, M. R. (n.d.). Unfixing Race. In Rereading the Black Legend : The Discourses of Religious and Racial Difference in the Renaissance Empires. University of Chicago Press. Lindsay, L. A. (n.d.). The Transatlantic Slave Trade. In Lindsay, Captives as commodities. Univeriity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.