Introduction
It is significant, to begin with, Virginia; the Africans who arrived on this land knew something of European culture and could speak Spanish or Portuguese. Their primary motivation was to settle in Virginia because there was an opportunity for freedom. However, some remained enslaved people for the rest of their lives. The same activities were available to blacks and other servants; they could gamble or become friends with white persons who were also engaged in service occupations. Thus, obtaining fewer rights than whites but still freedom in Virginia territory was why blacks relocated. For example, Africans could possess, marry, and testify against whites in court (Watson, 2019). However, later their living conditions worsened because of new sources of labor.
The extensive labor market was a fundamental reason for the relocation of the black population to South Carolina. Consequently, the rice plantations were affected by floods, and workers were needed to build dams and work on the rice plantations. Accordingly, South Carolinians were interested in the arrival of newly enslaved people, and workers could obtain permanent jobs (Watson, 2019). Afterward, slaves grew much larger than the white population, and laws were introduced that recognized them as a thing and denied them any rights. It is also significant to note the stay of migrants from Germany to Philadelphia, seeking asylum because of the high rents and federal assembly in their homeland. Hence, they tried to gain a democratic and liberal administration rather than the authority of the nobles that existed in their state (Watson, 2019). Therefore, although the reasons for migrating to America in all three cases are different, they share one common goal: to obtain a higher standard of living.
The Significance and Legacy of New World Slavery
The enslaved Black people transported to the Americas were mainly from the West Coast of Africa. A considerably smaller part was held by the tribes of Central and Southern parts of the continent, North Africa, and the island of Madagascar. In essence, it did not become important which clan the Africans belonged to in the dirty, cramped barracks of the manufacturers. They were all identical, patiently awaiting the departure of the boats of enslaved people. Enslaved people were primarily transported to the tobacco and cotton plantations of the southern states. Africans were forced to work in groups, and enslaved people worked 18 to 19 hours a day, encouraged by the scourge of the overseer. Thus, it is significant to establish why slavery was widespread in the New World and consider the influence of racial ideology on present-day society.
The Reasons for Transporting Slaves from Africa
In the middle of the century, Europeans were only beginning to explore the territory of Africa and, exploiting their technical superiority, were capturing people for sale. Africans initially had no clear legal status in the North American colonies. They were formally not indentured servants or enslaved people. Therefore, Africans attempted to exploit the opportunity to migrate to the New World, even if they needed to perform service hard labor. However, in 1641, Massachusetts authorities were the first to legalize slavery (Watson, 2019). In Virginia, in 1662, a law was passed whereby the children of slaves inherited this status from their parents, becoming enslaved automatically. Eventually, by the mid-nineteenth century, the number of enslaved people in the United States had reached nearly 4 million (Watson, 2019). Slavery originated in the Americas through the “triangular trade,” a transatlantic trade exchange that occurred between Africa, Europe, and the New World.
Europeans imported cloth, weapons, and metals into Africa, trading them or exchanging them for prisoners, who were then transported as goods from West African ports to North and South America. Many enslaved people performed on American farms producing sugar cane, rice, cotton, and tobacco, beneficial items for which there was always a request in Europe (PBS Origins 00:02:20). Hence, it was possible to introduce a lot of cheap labor into America through such a system. Low-cost, in fact, free slave labor from Africa was the key to survival for the American colonies, which declared independence from the British Empire in 1783 (Watson, 2019). Slavery was a significant factor in the American economy, valued more expensively than all other economic sectors combined. For this reason, the upper classes resisted the abolition of slavery long and persistently.
The Consequences of Slavery and Racial Ideology
Racism implies that a person’s membership in a particular race strongly impacts their academic and biological capabilities. The principles of racial imbalance also promote the history and civilization of one ethnicity over others. Racism has manifested itself in varied forms, but it is always in various interactions with economic and political relations in capitalist and non-capitalist social formations. There is a strong belief, especially in the United States, that racism, expressed in exclusionary practices, is a consequence of slavery. Racism in its present form seems to be the reaction of “white” Americans to the loss of enslaved people, whom they considered their property. Hence, they express the desire that “blacks” should not claim certain rights and that “whites” should retain their superiority, albeit to a lesser degree (Smedley & Smedley, 2018). The country still does not recognize the true extent of the tragedy of the slave trade, and no compensation has been paid to people of African descent.
Despite the text of the statement and many other global laws and authorized papers, racism resumes existing in contemporary civilization. Racism was the basis of statehood in most New World countries, which also aided in its social embedding. The causes of modern racism are cultural prejudices and stereotypes about certain nationalities and ethnicities. The basis for them, in turn, is classic racism, xenophobia, not always the right understanding of historical and sociable processes, negative emotional background, and the elements of upbringing and teaching (Smedley & Smedley, 2018). These days, racism has become more veiled; racial prejudice in employment stays a problem even in the United States, regulated at the legislative level.
There is a special state committee accountable for the identical possibilities of citizens in jobs the EEOC. Black workers constitute only 13% of the U.S. workforce, but racial discrimination against this group accounts for 26% of all lawsuits filed with the EEOC (Smedley & Smedley, 2018). People of color in the U.S. receive lower-quality health care than white Americans. The reasons for this are language problems and racial discrimination. African American men have worse health than men of other races. Consequently, slavery and racial ideology are still pouring in on black people (Smedley & Smedley, 2018). As a result, people who are discriminated against have problems with their psychological state, emotions and stress.
Conclusion
Hence, Africans were exported to the New World as cheap labor, although at first, they were even granted certain rights; later, they were transformed into the property of their owners. Consequently, Africans who hoped to gain freedom became enslaved; at the same time, whites used African labor because of the transatlantic trade exchange. The colonialists could profit from large numbers of enslaved people in exchange for goods. The effects of slavery and racial ideology can be observed even after the official abolition of this policy. There is racial discrimination in labor and health care because whites still consider themselves the superior race.
References
PBS Origins. (2018). Why did Europeans enslave Africans? [Video]. YouTube.
Smedley, A., & Smedley, B. (2018). Race in North America: Origin and evolution of a worldview. Routledge.
Watson, H. L. (2019). Building the American Republic, Volume 1: A narrative history to 1877. The University of Chicago Press.