Paper

Massive movements of African Americans generally came to America as a result of the growing cultural way of slavery in the United States. Slavery is a condition of bondage in which one individual is considered the property of another. Until modern times, slavery was a modern phenomenon, practiced by many people around the world. It was even accepted in Africa as the fate of prisoners of war and as appropriate punishment for criminal activity. Unlike the captives brought to the Americas, however, such slaves frequently retained important rights and were often able to work off their obligations. They were not looked upon as subhuman or racially inferior; rather they were regarded as outside the tribal clan or group and therefore not subject to its protections.
      Once it became clear that huge fortunes could be made in the Americas from agricultural plantations and farms, the demand for slaves escalated dramatically. Since the Americans lacked the military strength to take African slaves by force, they went into partnership with local kings and village chiefs who received a commission on each slave sold. To protect their own people from slave raiders, African rulers soon realized that they had to have guns, which they could only secure from these people in exchange for slaves. Thus, this resulted in huge quantities of weapons pouring into Africa. On the slave ships from Africa to the Americas, slave deaths were due to severe dehydration. Slaves abroad the ship were generally given one pint of water and two meals of boiled vegetables a day. Frequently, bad weather or lack of winds caused delays, and food and water ran short. What food and water there was, was frequently contaminated, resulting in bacillary and amebic dysentery. Temperatures in the holds of slave ships reached 110 to 120 degrees with air quality so bad that candles sometimes would not burn. So many slaves arrived in the Americas in extremely poor condition that special recuperation farms had to be...