History of slavery and its Impact on Contemporary Society - Essay Sample

Introduction

Slavery is an activity that dates back to ancient times cutting across different culture's nationalities and religions. Slavery has been with us for the longest time, and the practice despite being condemned on many parts of the still exist in different forms. Slavery was a product of many factors; however, the beginning civilization and the improvement in civilization slaves were more needed to complete a certain taught task such as farming and building of large structures or monuments. Today the word slavery is something to be ashamed; however, despite the calls to end this horrific vice some parts of the world still practice this vice. Human trafficking specifically has been instrumental in ensuring that slavery continues a vice which was still prevalent specifically in the Asian continent.

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Historically the first instances of slavery took place in Mesopotamia especially in farms where people worked as slaves for the elite. Slavery was allowed according to the Mesopotamia code of Hammurabi. In this period in Babylon, the slaves were not subject to brutality as found in other areas. The slaves in Mesopotamia were even allowed to own property of their something which was not found in other parts of the world where slavery took place.

In ancient Greece especially in Athens and Sparta slavery was a norm and the system relied on forced labor to accomplish certain tasks. In Sparta, the people were mainly conquered and made slaves by the warriors. Many of the slaves in Sparta Greece were however still given certain rights by their spartan masters. In Athens however, slaves were not allowed to have rights as the majority of them were mainly overworked by their masters. Many of the slaves in this part of Greece worked in the mines owned by the government but leased to private individuals. Majority of the slaves however in Athens were domestic, and their fate was highly dependent on the relationship they had with their masters.

In ancient Rome, slavery was a common practice; however, slaves were treated depending on the duties they performed. Slaves who performed secretarial duties were mainly treated well by their masters. However, during the reign of the Roman empire, more slaves got acquired, and this set a precedent for brutality. Many of the slaves who worked in buildings and mines were regularly harassed and chained as they performed their forced labor. Chain gangs pushing carts was a common practice as people seemed to enjoy torturing slaves working (Glancy, 2017). Combat was one of the famous cultural activity of the Romans, and in most instances, slaves were forced to fight gladiators in combats some of which was terrifying.

The crumbling of the Roman empire slowed down the issue of slavery; however, the vice continued to take place in other countries where the slaves served as servants in most household's army as casual laborers. During this period also the slave trade was a very common thing and thrived mainly in the Mediterranean. Arabs specifically along the Mediterranean participated in the trade with their targets mainly the Africans. During this period there was a specific station where the slave trade took place.

Religion has in no way condemned religion with the Quran specifically not having any problem with the practice. Christianity on the other appear to condemned the vice based on the argument by their missionaries, but they find no problem in the use of forced labor another form of oppression.

Slavery however till date was defined by the Portuguese who arrived in west African between the 15th and the 17th century with large ships from Europe. At around 1460 Portuguese arrived at Cape Verde a strategic point with which they could make the trade on slave possible. African slave was mainly captured by their respective kingdom and brought to the slave station mostly in the cost of a guinea. Many of the salve captured at the onset of Portuguese slavery worked mainly in the estates within Cape Verde mostly planting cotton as well in the weaving and dying factories to make new pieces of cloth. Many of the clothes made by the slaves themselves were used in the buying of other slaves.

Portuguese as a result of the cheap labor provided by the slave prospered, and they were able to monopolize the transport of slaves from Africa to Brazil (Hall, 2016). Brazil fielded the slave because of the emergence of the labor-intensive plantation for cotton, sugar, and tobacco. Portuguese maximized this by ensuring that their plantation within their colonies thrived and made more profits from the sale of slaves and the products in their plantations. European countries soon joined in the trade making what famously came to be known as the triangular trade. Europeans frequented coastal Africa and soon found slavery vice more interesting.

The triangular trade proved to be profitable to the ship owners especially those who focused on ensuring that slaves were transported to the new slave owners. To woo the African chiefs, the Europeans used items that were high in demand by the African people mainly alcohol, firearms, clothes and many others (Harris, 2016). Europeans could quickly access the slaves because of the many traders that had found the slave trade very lucrative. Many of these traders would just be waiting for good to exchange them with the slaves that were already captured and placed in the dungeons.

On the completion of the exchange, the slaves would be put on into a vessel for a long journey across the Atlantic oceans. Many of the slaves were squeezed inside the decks and the majority placed in terrible condition as they traveled across the sea. According to the estimates about over 10 million Africans were taken into slavery mainly to Brazil, America, and Europe. Traveling to America was a long and tedious journey, and many African suffered inside the boast where they were chained. Many of the slaves that died during the journey were thrown into the ocean and got devoured by the sea animals (Silva, 2017).

As the trade on slave went the merchant's profits increased drastically; however their brutality on the population of Africans was immeasurable. With the many Africans died during the journey the British government focused on questioning whether the trader's activities were justified. Many of the traders argued that they protected their cargo and slaves were more likely to reach their destinations alive. The horror of the slave trade sparked a discussion in the United Kingdom's parliament with certain legislators opposing the activities of the traders that were accompanied by brutality and inhuman treatment of the slaves (Clarkson, 2018).

In the American colonies, however, the demand was still high as the farmers sought to have more workers to work in their plantations. Slaves sought their freedom by protesting against their humane treatment and the lack of freedom. In America, slaves got treated extremely badly something quite similar to how slaves were treated in the Roman empire. The brutality was violating the right of the African slaves that were protected in the constitution; however, none would hear of it as they had to work as slaves and please their masters (Olmstead, 2018). Africans fight for racial equality is an issue that is prominent for the past two centuries especially in the American society where a section of the population has held divergent views ever since the onset of slavery.

How Slavery Impacts the Contemporary Society

Slavery happened in the past because it was a way of life and many nations had experienced economic improvement as a result. The use of slaves was studied, and many people found it justified specifically to provide economic labor at no cost. In the past, the feeling of superiority was so much valued, and many people believed enslaving others was a sign of superiority. Many people may dispute the, but the fact that fueled a lot of slavery was the white superiority that sought to establish their dominance. Recent studies have in the recent past exposed how the white nation planned and sustained the notion that they are a superior race to others. Superiority which brought slavery has had devastating effects on them, and its negative impact still has a lot of influence in modern society.

One of the biggest influences of slavery in modern society is the issue of slavery which is still very much alive. Racism is a vice that results in the indifferent treatment of other people as compared to the whites. In today's society, the issue of racism is very much based on how black to be specific are treated. However, in modern society racism is not as open as compared to the past indirect racism which occurs mainly in institutions of government sidelines one race and gives preference to the other. The white's superiority agenda was achieved a long time ago; however, the justification of these acts is still present today where certain individuals in the society seek to justify certain bad actions (Li, 2017).

Examples of racism in today society are evident in the way there is the uneven distribution of resources, racial profiling as well as police brutality. Racial prejudice against the black people, for instance, has led to many killing by the police because of their association with being violent. This case of brutality in modern society proves the impact of slavery, and many argue that in most cases whites are given better treatment by the police (Li, 2017).

Impact on the African American Community

The effect of slavery in the contemporary has shown that a person color is not as irrelevant as people want to believe especially in American society. Many things such as public contracts, salaries, and disparities in scores at the universities have racially biased a vice that is still prevalent in contemporary society (Jacobs, 2014). Despite this, the government institutions have forged forward to tackle racism by encouraging more people of color to join the institution a gesture that is welcome and should be retained.

In contemporary society, the enslaved black population seemed to have suffered the most, and they still harbor resentment on the white folks. The brutality was very horrible, and they had devastating effects on the families something which affected their self-esteem. Statistics indicate that blacks especially women have low self-esteem because of the second-class treatment always directed towards them. Despite many of them experiencing low self-esteem some have managed to deal with hem and are now living freely as the citizens of America (Jacobs, 2014).

It is common knowledge that racial disparities have contributed significantly to the minority black community lagging in terms of development. In the majority of the areas such as education and finances, the black community is way behind the whites. This is evident in modern society where the majority of the blacks live in ghetto communities, and many of them have resorted to crime as a result of their problems.

The black community in the contemporary world has also lost their identity because of the slavery that they were inflicted. Many of them are unaware of their origin; their culture is not as defined as other people in American society. Having an identity is important in learning what your true purpose in society and rising to duty. Lack of identity in the community is closely associated with a large number of broken families and the inability of the community to speak in one voice concerning a particular issue.

Impact on the Modern White Community

On the other hand, white people are more developed financially and education wise and thus more competent than most blacks in the job market. However, because of the superiority that most people in the United States believe they are entitled to because of slavery, there are stil...