Reaction paper

Reaction Paper: Causes of Slavery The slavery of Africans was not necessitated by economic advantage or discrimination of Africans by Americans. Although it would have been economical for the planters to acquire slaves from Native Americans and Europeans, the planters went for slaves from Africa. This was uneconomical due to high shipping cost. The argument that Africa provided cheap labor was not true because the cost of hiring slaves from the agencies was extremely high because they had to compensate for those who died during the shipping process. After all, some Native Americans and Europeans could withstand the harsh environmental conditions hence it was not Africans only who could withstand such conditions. This disregards the claims that African slaves were resilient to tropical diseases and harsh climates. 1
The enslavement of Africans was cultural based, and the name was associated with people from a particular race. The Europeans did not enslave their fellow Europeans. The means through which Europeans acquired slaves had an impact on the way different communities understood the meaning of slavery. In some communities, those who deserved slavery were non religious groups. Also, it had problems in the way Muslims in North Africa understood and in the same Christians had different perceptions of the meaning of slavery. 2 Therefore, although some people believed that slaves were supposed to be black Africans this was not true because the term slave meant different things to different communities.
Eltis’ argument seems more logical because it dismisses the claim that the reason for enslaving Africans were because of “ cheap labor for their plantations” this is very interesting because the European populace was greater than that of Africans and due to shipment expenses Native Americans and Europeans would provide cheap labor for the planters.
Bibliography
Brion, David ” Sugar and Slavery from the Old to the New World”. Ed. David Northrup. 2 Rd Ed. Boston, Mass: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. 14-23
David, Eltis, ” The Cultural Roots Of African Slavery”. The Atlantic Slave Trade. Ed. David Northrup. 2 Rd Ed. Boston, Mass: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. 23-29