WEBVTT

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Slavery, the treatment of human beings 
as property, deprived of personal rights

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has occurred in many forms 
throughout the world.

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Bue one institution stands out for both
its global scale and its lasting legacy.

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The Atlantic Slave Trade,

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occurring from the late 15th
to the mid 19th century,

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and spanning three continents,

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forcibly brought more than 10 million 
Africans to the Americas.

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The impact it would leave affected
not only these slaves

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and their descendants,

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but the economies and histories
of large parts of the world.

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There had been centuries of contact
between Europe and Africa

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via the Mediterranean.

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But the Atlantic Slave Trade 
began in the late 1400s

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with Portuguese colonies in West Africa,

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and Spanish settlement 
of the Americas shortly after.

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The crops grown in the new colonies,
sugar cane, tobacco, and cotton,

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were labor intensive,

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and there were not enough settlers 
or indentured servants

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to cultivate all the new land.

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American Natives were enslaved, 
but many died from new diseases,

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while others effectively resisted.

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And so to meet the massive 
demand for labor,

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the Europeans looked to Africa.

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African slavery had existed 
for centuries in various forms.

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Some slaves were indentured servants,

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with a limited term 
and the chance to buy one's freedom.

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Others were more like European serfs.

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In some societies, slaves could 
be part of a master's family,

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own land, and even rise 
to positions of power.

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But when white captains came offering 
manufactured goods,

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weapons, and rum for slaves,

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African kings and merchants 
had little reason to hesitate.

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They viewed the people they sold 
not as fellow Africans,

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but criminals, debtors, 
or prisoners of war from rival tribes.

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By selling them, kings enriched 
their own realms,

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and strengthened them 
against neighboring enemies.

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African kingdoms prospered 
from the slave trade,

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but meeting the European's massive demand
created intense competition.

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Slavery replaced other criminal sentences,

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and capturing slaves 
became a motivation for war,

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rather than its result.

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To defend themselves from slave raids,

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neighboring kingdoms 
need European firearms,

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which they also bought with slaves.

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The slave trade had become an arms race,

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altering societies and economies 
across the continent.

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As for the slaves themselves,
they faced unimaginable brutality.

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After being marched 
to slave forts on the coast,

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shaved to prevent lice, and branded,

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they were loaded onto ships 
bound for the Americas.

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About 20% of them 
would never see land again.

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Most captains of the day 
were tight packers,

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cramming as many men 
as possible below deck.

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While the lack of sanitation 
caused many to die of disease,

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and others were thrown 
overboard for being sick,

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or as discipline,

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the captain's ensured their profits 
by cutting off slave's ears

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as proof of purchase.

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Some captives took matters 
into their own hands.

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Many inland Africans 
had never seen whites before,

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and thought them to be cannibals,

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constantly taking people away 
and returning for more.

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Afraid of being eaten, 
or just to avoid further suffering,

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they committed suicide 
or starved themselves,

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believing that in death,
their souls would return home.

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Those who survived 
were completley dehumanized,

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treated as mere cargo.

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Women and children were kept above deck,
and abused by the crew,

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while the men were made to perform dances

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in order to keep them exercised 
and curb rebellion.

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What happened to those Africans 
who reached the New World

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and how the legacy of slavery 
still affects their descendants today

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is fairly well known.

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But what is not often discussed

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is the effect that the Atlantic 
Slave Trade had on Africa's future.

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Not only did the continent lose tens 
of millions of its able-bodied population,

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but because most of the slaves 
taken were men,

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the long-term demographic 
effect was even greater.

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When the slave trade was finally 
outlawed in the Americas and Europe,

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the African kingdoms whose economies 
it had come to dominate collapsed,

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leaving them open 
to conquest and colonization.

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And the increased competition 
and influx of European weapons

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fueled warfare and instability 
that continues to this day.

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The Atlantic Slave Trade also contributed
to the development of racist ideology.

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Most African slavery had no deeper reason
than legal punishment

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or intertribal warfare,

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but the Europeans 
who preached a universal religion,

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and who had long ago 
outlawed enslaving fellow Christians,

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needed justification for a practice

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so obviously at odds 
with their ideals of equality.

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So they claimed that 
Africans were biologically inferior,

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and destined to be slaves,

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making great efforts 
to justify this theory.

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Thus, slavery in Europe and the Americas
acquired a racial basis,

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making it impossible for slaves 
and their future descendants

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to attain equal status in society.

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In all of these ways,

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the Atlantic Slave Trade 
was an injustice on a massive scale

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whose impact has continued 
long after its abolition.