Slavery was an event that went on fro a long time. It was so brutal , emotionally and physically for us African America people. On the other hand it made us stronger , wiser , and fierce. It started around August 20th 1619. On this day a shipped carried 20 enslaved Africans to Jamestown, Virginia. This changed our life’s for the next years to come.

The Middle Passage

The middle passage is what started all of this. The middle passage was a trip that forcefully took African Americans on these ships with the worst conditions and sailed them across the Atlantic ocean to trade them. They traded them for tobacco , rum , sugar, indigo, and raw materials. These trips took from 1-6 months depending on the weather conditions. The ships were filled to max comapicty therefore this caused some of the people on there to die due to lack of oxygen . They were chained up naked that means they couldn’t move or relieve them selves properly. Imagine having to go to sleep next to a pile of feecies . Alot of diseases went around such as small pox, yellow fever , scurvy , measles , malaria , diarrhea, and many many other things. When the people died from the sickness the slavers just threw them overboard. It didn’t matter how old or young, man or woman. Therefore , many didn’t make it to the end of the trip.

Why slaves were important

Slaves were so important because they made the American colonies profitable. They produced great export crops such as tobacco , indigo, rice , and forest products. Without these African American workers there is no money flowing through the colonies. slaves worked all day with no pay. Only payed with trauma and survival skills. Although slaved labor was the PRIMARY for wealth , you are telling me they didn’t see a dime of the money they were making ?

An Item

Slaves were treated like an item . They were bought , sold emotionally and physically abused. Slave owners looked at them as if they were beneath them and not smart. They said mean things to them they even whipped them when they weren’t being please with what they were doing. No matter how young , old, man , woman, kid .

Fight

African Americans never gave up. We fought and we came together ! We never let the hard times get between us. The families stuck together and looked out for each other. We found a way to see the good in all the bad that was going on. We sang , danced , even praised God for keeping us along the way. We never didn’t have faith that it would be over . Instead we always had faith that one day Some one will stand up against this cruelty and set us free. Eventually we did get tired and we fought even harder. Harriet, Fredick , and anyone who believe helped free us . Even when their lives were at risk.