Topic > American History: Change in People's Moral Conscience

Throughout history, there have been groups of people who were forced to relocate, assimilate, and serve as slaves; However, none have ever succeeded so well in creating a lasting legacy as the transatlantic slave trade. The transatlantic slave trade was the largest forced migration in American and world history. Although the benefits that major powers obtained through the trade of enslaved African populations are innumerable, it is important to shed light on the effects that the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade had on the colonies to better understand the legacy that this ban on the trade slaves he had on the colonies. The slave trade was a turning point in American history. The transatlantic ban on the slave trade led to growing support for the anti-slavery initiative that would change America for years to come and for the illegal importation of African peoples into the American colonies and this transformed American history into our hope for the future. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The end of this human trafficking system was a complex process that took almost an entire century to completely abolish throughout the world. Documents from societies around the world demonstrate that the slave trade was an institution as acceptable “as slavery itself” dating back to the 15th century, when the Portuguese began exploring the coasts of Africa. The political and social distinctions that pushed to end African human trafficking emerged in the 17th and 18th centuries in European countries. The movement to end the system began with a few individuals and their abolitionist ideas changing the course of public opinion and influence. During the second half of the eighteenth century, Europe was experiencing significant developments that changed the attitudes of European intellectuals known as the Age of Enlightenment. Encouraged by a new perspective and confidence, traditional ideas and ways of governing were challenged. As historian David Brion Davis states, “The emergence of international opinion against slavery represented an epochal turning point in the evolution of man's moral perception.” After 1760, more and more people condemned slavery as a system that needed to be abolished. The nascent abolitionists succeeded in convincing the British public and officials that free labor was superior to slave labor. While the British succeeded in abolishing the slave trade, American states clamored for more slaves, pushing African-trading nations to increase their importation of illegal slaves into the colonies, complicating the end of the transatlantic slave trade in its entirety. . great difficulties regarding the approval and enforcement of the ban due to the huge profits that the great powers derived from trade. While this may be true, Denmark was the first nation to ban the slave trade since 1792, and nations such as Great Britain and the United States soon followed suit. This marked the beginning of a long thirty-three year period aimed at stopping the slave trade, and as a result, the influx of Africans into the Americas occurred mainly due to violations of laws after its ban. Even after the abolition of the trade in Britain and America in 1808, annual shipments of Africans rose to around sixty thousand, not far from the volume recorded years before the abolition.”..