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Coming Of African Americans Essay

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before the coming of Europeans. Like it was said before, slavery was a social norm in many countries worldwide. In Africa however, slaves would more often than not be criminals, debtors, and prisoners of war. Even so, these slaves would work in the homes of owners and had “well-defined” rights. African societies would be classified as a society with slaves as opposed to the new world, which would be a slave society. At first in the New World, the practice of indentured servitude was common. In fact, the first African Americans that came to the new world (c. 1619) were indentured servants. They would eventually live out their time of servitude and live as freed men. Regardless of this fact, Englishmen had this sentiment towards “alien people” …show more content…
The suffering and expense of African Americans was the force that drove economic growth at the time. As stated before, it was believed that Africans were of lesser social standing and it was only right that they were "used" by the slave owners to promote their wealth and stature. “The slave population of the Americas reached 33,000 in 1700, nearly three million in 1800 and peaked at over six million in 1850.” The reason that such a large number of slaves were being brought over was because a plantation and slave owner’s status were reflected based on the quality and size of said plantation. For instance, a plantation owner would seem to be richer and of a higher social status the bigger his plantation was. In order for a plantation to grow and profit, the owners would need workers, workers that needed pay, thus slavery came to mind. They wouldn’t have to pay wages and keep what they would pay those working in a plantation. It should also be noted that plantation work wasn’t the easiest of labor considering the conditions of the hot south. It wouldn’t be easy to find white men that would choose this line of work, a choice that slaves wouldn’t have. All the plantation owners would have to provide for the slaves would be shelter and some food. The money that the plantation owner would spend on wages he could then invest in his own land, expanding it, buying more

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