What was the impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade on the global scale? How is slavery viewed in contemporary America?
Slavery is widely regarded as the most cruel and detrimental institution in American history. Yet there is relatively little discussion of the impact that the Atlantic Slave Trade had on the global scale. The forced migration of 10,000,000 Africans over more than three centuries created demographic, cultural, and political shifts that continue to influence our world. The capture of such a large portion of the population, most of whom were males, was the basis for a significant part of the economies of both Africa and the Americas. Even after the abolition movement, the presence of entire African economies that had spring up around slavery resulted in the continuation of the institution in Africa (Thompsell). The practice of slavery also resulted in the strong racial segregation of blacks from whites which continued around the globe long after slavery had been abolished. This is not to mention the colossal damage done to the advancement of large sections of Africa by removing 10 million people and their descendants from the population. This forced emigration wave prevented innumerable humans from benefitting society. And yet despite the profound, irreparable, and global harms of the Atlantic Slave Trade, the issue is substantially oversimplified in American culture. One Texas textbook went so far as to refer to African slaves as mere "workers." Even when the full brutality of this system of forced migrant labor is acknowledged, it is often only within an American context.
Thompsell, Angela. "The Effects of Abolition in Africa." About.com Education. N.p., 30 Sept. 2015. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.
Map of the Great Migration in the United States, 1916-1930
The shipping off of 2 million American men to Europe during the last stages of World War I simultaneously created a labor shortage and a need for increased industry to provide for the war effort. African Americans living in the South left for industrialized northern cities to fill this vacuum in droves, commencing one of the largest internal migrations in American history. Between 1910 and 1970, approximately 6 million African Americans relocated from the South to urban centers in the North.
Syrian civilians wanted to live in a place where they would t get bombed, but David Cameron thought they would be an inconvenience to the economy, so England refused to accept refugees. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/syrian-refuges-child-david-cameron-yvette-cooper-pmqs-britain-shaming-reputation-video-alf-dubs-a7003251.html
