SETTLING NORTH AMERICA 1497 1732
RISE OF THE SLAVE TRADE BLACK HISTORY IN COLONIAL AMERICA
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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horribe, plantations, europeans
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indigenous, Europeans, New World
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Europeans, indigenous, New World
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None of the above
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Detailed explanation-1: -Ivory, gold and other trade resources attracted Europeans to West Africa. As demand for cheap labour to work on plantations in the Americas grew, people enslaved in West Africa became the most valuable ‘commodity’ for European traders. Slavery existed in Africa before Europeans arrived.
Detailed explanation-2: -Along with the people, plants and animals of the Old World came their diseases. The pigs aboard Columbus’ ships in 1493 immediately spread swine flu, which sickened Columbus and other Europeans and proved deadly to the native Taino population on Hispaniola, who had no prior exposure to the virus.
Detailed explanation-3: -Europeans had spent more time living in close proximity to one another and with animals. This meant that had been more opportunities for diseases to evolve in European society than in the Americas, hence the assymetry.
Detailed explanation-4: -Slavery was the direct result of poverty. People also sold themselves into slavery because they were poor peasants and needed food and shelter. Slaves only attempted escape when their treatment was unusually harsh. For many, being a slave in Egypt made them better off than a freeman elsewhere.