The Transatlantic Slave Trade And The United States

My ancestors, along with many other African Americans living in society today are decedents of African slaves. I can remember as far back as age 5 listening to the elders in my family talk about slavery. The word slavery originated when millions of African men and women were forcible taken from their families and the familiar surroundings of their African villages. Brought here to an unfamiliar environment and forced to work on plantations in different parts of the United States, usually from sun up to sun down. the transatlantic slave trade formally began in 1518, when King Charles I of Spain sanctioned the direct importation of Africans to his colonies in the America. The transatlantic slave trade became a lucrative international†¦show more content†¦Whippings, executions, beatings, and rape. all of these were common humiliations suffered by slaves. In reality, treatment of slaves ranged from mild to cruel and sadistic. Under slavery, slave-owners, controlled, and sold ent ire families of slaves. Slave owners might decide to sell families or family members for profit, as punishment, or to pay debts. Slave-owners also gave slaves away to grown children or other family members as wedding gifts. Slave children were considered ready to work and leave home once they were 12-14 years old. Darker-skinned slaves worked in the fields, while lighter-skinned slaves worked as house servants and had better clothing, food, and housing. Slaves were forbidding from reading or writing so they adopted a strong oral tradition of expression through songs, prayers, music, and story-telling. This allowed many slaves to feel a sense of cultural connection the home of their origin. this provided them a way of educate the younger generation on the customs, cultures and traditions. Growing up in a multigenerational household that included extended family members I learned how important that family/kinship bond is in providing moral and psychological support to a child. Although, they were captured and forcibly brought to America as slaves that did not prevent my ancestors from holding on to the religious practices that were common in their homeland. The musical rhythms, drumming, shouting,