Why did European colonists slaughter and sell black people as slaves?

Africa is one of the origins of mankind. In the multipolar world with the development of ancient civilization, Africa occupies a place.

A place to sit. The Nile valley gave birth to ancient Egyptian civilization. The coast of North Africa was once an ancient Mediterranean civilization.

An inseparable part of a circle. After the 7th century, Islamic culture spread in North Africa, East Africa and the West Soviet Union.

The spread of Dan and other places has brought new prosperity to the economy and culture of these areas. In the vast sub-Saharan region,

After a long and stable development, the region has formed a unique style of black culture. By16th century,

Africa, like Eurasia, is at different stages of pre-capitalist development.

With the invasion of righteous people, African society will evolve and develop along its own track.

In ancient and medieval times, blacks were trafficked to southern Europe through the Sahara trade route, the Nile and the Indian Ocean.

Arab world, Persia, South Asia and other places. At that time, due to low productivity, the slave trade was

White people are also sold to blacks as slaves, which is a common phenomenon and not unique to blacks.

However, the invasion of modern colonialism has disrupted the normal social development process in Africa.

With the rise of socialism, Africa has become a place for commercial hunting of blacks, and the slave trade has developed into a special kind.

Industry has become a special historical phenomenon. Tens of millions of African blacks have left their homes and drifted abroad.

Across the ocean, they were sold to America, the Indian Ocean and Asia to work in plantations and mines run by colonists.

Other blacks died in slave hunting, slave wars and trafficking. African people and their social and economic life

Unprecedented catastrophe, serious destruction of productive forces, and evil colonial and capitalist systems.

It flourished with the sale and slavery of African blacks. Marx once pointed out that Africa has become a commercial hunting ground.

Black spot is one of the main factors in primitive accumulation of capital, marking the era of capitalist production.

Dawn. Later, the American slave trade and black slavery accumulated funds for the industrial revolution.

It can be said that capitalism is covered with the blood of African people from head to toe.

The slave trade lasted about four centuries. Except Austria, Poland, Russia and a few other countries,

Almost all European countries and the United States have successively participated in this evil activity.

The development process can be roughly divided into three periods: the first period is from the middle of15th century to the middle of17th century;

The second period is from the middle of17th century to the beginning of19th century. Due to the development of American plantations, the slave trade is

This period reached a climax; Britain and the United States passed a bill banning the slave trade.

After that, the slave trade entered the third period. At this time, the slave trade was legally prohibited, but slaves were smuggled.

However, trade is booming. It was not until the Brussels Conference in July 1890 that the African slave trade was abolished.

After discussion, the slave trade was officially terminated.

According to the different nature of trade determined by different stages of early capitalist development,

Then the whole history of the slave trade can be divided into three stages: 15 to 17 century, Spain and Portugal.

The feudal royal family and the commercial capital represented by franchising companies such as Holland, Britain and France later occupied the ruling land.

Slave trade is a monopoly trade; /kloc-in the 0/8th century, industrial capital broke through the monopoly of commercial capital.

The slave trade entered the stage of free trade; After the industrial revolution, it was in France because of the appearance of modern large-scale industry.

Slave trade was abolished by law, and slave smuggling trade prevailed in19th century.

This chapter describes the prevalence of slave trade and its influence on the world and mankind during the 300 years from the 6th century to the beginning of the 9th century.

The influence of African historical development.

Slave trade in the sixteenth century and the first half of the seventeenth century

144 1 year, a Portuguese expedition led by Antoine Salves and Nunott Risto.

Team, robbed 10 African blacks in the coastal area near Cape Brown, and took them back to Lisbon for sale and slave trade.

The beginning of easy. /kloc-in the second half of the 0/5th century, the Portuguese trafficked slaves from the west African coast to do housework in their own country.

And sold to Atlantic islands such as Madeira, Canary Islands and Cape Verde Islands.

Working in the newly-built sugarcane plantation on Lantau Island, about 500- 1000 people become slaves every year. However, until 16.

At the beginning of the century, the Portuguese slave trade in West Africa was far less valuable than gold, ivory and pepper.

African product trade.

1494 The Todd-silas Treaty signed by Spain and Portugal was the first time that great powers carved up the world.

According to the treaty, 370 leagues west of Cape Verde is the dividing line between the West, Portugal and Portugal.

China's sphere of influence in the United States is bounded by 46 degrees west longitude. Since then, Africa, Asia and Brazil have all belonged to Portugal.

The rest of America belongs to Spain.

/kloc-In the 6th century, in the process of expanding and plundering the West Indies and the American continent,

They dehumanized the indigenous Indians and tried to enslave them, but failed.

The Spanish found that Indians were not suitable for heavy work, and one slave was worth four.

Indians. To meet the labor demand for developing tropical crop plantations and mineral deposits.

Yes, they decided to bring in black people from Africa. 150 1 year, that is, less than 10 year after Columbus discovered the new continent.

Hispaniola brought in the first slaves from Portugal, which was an abuse of the American slave trade.

The first slave ship from Africa arrived in 2008+0565438+2008, which was also the beginning of black slavery in the United States.

Darcy India started the direct slave trade between Africa and America. To 1540, Spain and the United States.

The number of slaves brought into the colony every year may have reached 654.38+100000.

/kloc-the Portuguese slave trade activities on the west coast of Africa in the 0 th and 6 th centuries were mainly in two areas: one was Shangji.

Neiya, that is, from Cape Verde Islands to the coast of Sierra Leone, the largest island in Cape Verde Islands, Santiago Island.

It used to be the trade center of Upper Guinea. Some Europeans who settled in Cape Verde have moved in succession.

Living on the coast of Upper Guinea and even dating back to gambia river, many small strongholds have been established in this area, from

Slave trade and other commercial activities. The other is the mouth of the Congo and its southern region. /kloc-at the beginning of the 6th century, it not only

Portuguese businessmen and Portuguese missionaries, teachers and craftsmen were sent at the invitation of King Alfonso of Congo.

(tailor, shoemaker, bricklayer, bricklayer), etc. All trade in the name of helping Congo develop its economy.

The reality of slave activity. By 1526, the situation in Congo became very bad, and Alfonso wrote to Portugal.

The king said, "There are many businessmen in every corner of this country. They will destroy this country. People.

Being enslaved and plundered every day, even nobles and royal family members are not spared. "( 1)

In the16th century, Sao Tome became a slave base in the Gulf of Guinea and the coastal areas from Congo to Angola. 36338.68666866666

Now, Europeans began to settle on the island (2); 1499, the first sugarcane plantation was established.

In the first half of the year, it became the main source of sucrose in Europe. Since the 1920s, Sao Tome and Principe. 36860 . 68686868686

Portuguese businessmen from Sibi went deep into the mainland of San Salvador, possibly as far as Lake Malebo on the Zaire River.

And Ndongo in the south. Black slaves from Benin, Congo, Angola and other places either stayed in local plantations or were transported to the Gold Coast, Madeira Islands and Cape Verde Group.

1It was directly shipped to the islands of America and Portugal in the 1930s, and became the first in the middle of16th century.

Africa's main transit point for selling black slaves to the United States. Sao Tome Island achieved prosperity in 1530- 1560.

Apex was one of the main overseas territories of Portugal at that time. Slaves and sugar cane are its two great treasures. Curtin

According to Endil's estimation, during the whole slave trade, Sao Tome brought 654.38 million+slaves.

Li ①. 1576 The Portuguese established Fort San Miguel as a base in Luanda Bay. Since then, the mouth of Congo has been

Black people in the south are trafficked directly from here to the United States, not through Sao Tome. It is gradually developed here.

The exhibition became one of the slave trade centers in Angola and Congo.

By the last quarter of16th century, slaves were directly exported from Africa to the West Indies and American continent.

The South Atlantic trading system has been established. To Europe and the Atlantic Islands (Madeira, Canary and

The slaves exported by Cape Verde Islands only account for 17% of Africa's total exports. ② After 0/600 years, it will be exported to Europe.

Most slaves were also transported to West India. Meanwhile, from the end of16th century to the beginning of17th century, the United States

The origin of African slaves quickly moved from West Africa to Angola and Congo. At least two factors are worth mentioning.

And: First, the sugarcane plantation in Sao Tome and Principe is facing competition from Brazil, and will be gradually replaced by1end of the 6th century1beginning of the 7th century.

The decline of the ladder means that the demand for Congo-Angola slaves in the Gulf of Guinea itself is reduced; Second, from

From the17th century, the Portuguese began to resort to military action in Luanda, or through direct plunder,

Or gained a new source of slaves through trade with local Africans. However, it was not until the middle of17th century.

After all, America's demand for African slave labor and the resulting number of slaves.

Limit.

Second,/kloc-Reasons for the prosperity of slave trade after the middle of the 7th century

In the history of early capitalist development, the direct slaves of the United States used to be the European bourgeoisie.

The foundation of industry. Since the middle of17th century, Europe has been developing due to the development of capitalist workshops, handicrafts and people.

Changes in living habits (for example, coffee has become the main drink and the consumption of sucrose has soared) have a negative impact on tropical areas.

The increasing demand for products promoted the slave species that produced tropical products in West India and American continent.

Plantations have developed greatly, which has become the reason for the prosperity of slave trade.

1625, the first British immigrants came to Barbados to grow tobacco, cotton, indigo and other crops.

164 1 introduced sugarcane for the first time, so Barbados is called "the mother of sugar islands in the West Indies".

The number of black slaves has increased exponentially. Since then, sugarcane cultivation has spread rapidly to leeward islands and Jamaica.

Antigua and other islands. More than 20 years after sugarcane was introduced into the British West Indian colony, sugarcane occupied London.

Nearly half of the total value of goods imported from colonial plantations (1) exceeded that of tobacco. The end of 2007+65438+the beginning of 2008,

The development of Jamaica plantations gradually replaced Barbados, and Jamaica brought in more slaves than Pakistan.

In bardo, the ratio of slaves to whites is as high as 10 12. In French West India, Guadeloupe is 1635.

Tobacco was first introduced to the island, and tropical crops such as sugarcane and coffee were introduced one after another after the middle of17th century.

Finally, plantation slavery became the economic base of the West Indies. That's why it was in the second half of the17th century.

In the past 50 years, the number of slaves sold to Europeans along the Atlantic coast of Africa exceeded the sum of the previous 200 years.

1) Curtin, op. cit., p. 20.

② Curtin, op. cit., p. 1 16.

① K.G. Davis, Royal Africa Company, London 1957, p. 15.

(2) Daniel P. Mannix, black goods, the history of the Atlantic slave trade, 15 18- 1865 (black goods: Atlantic).

A History of Slave Trade), new york 1962, p. 52.

(3)18th century is the prosperous time of West India and the golden age of plantation slavery.

India has become the main supplier of sucrose in Europe and an important overseas economic pillar of European powers.

North America introduced the first slaves in 16 19, but for a long time, blacks in North America

Slavery did not develop. The reason is the slow development of plantation economy, primitive slaves

Mainly poor white indentured slaves, it was not until 166 1 that the Virginia colonial parliament took the lead in passing the law.

Case, determine the black is a lifelong slave. By the18th century, the rapid development of British cotton textile industry had been greatly promoted.

Cotton planting in the United States greatly promoted the slave trade, making raising black people the main thing in slave-holding States.

Because. /kloc-the great development of cotton textile industry caused by the industrial revolution in the second half of 0/8th century and19th century,

The demand for American cotton has increased sharply, and cotton plantations in the southern United States have expanded rapidly from coastal lowlands.

To the red soil hilly area, and then develop into a black soil belt in Alabama, across the Mississippi River basin, until Deco.

Sass. At this time, the focus of slave plantations gradually shifted from West India to the North American continent, and the United States became

A major importer of slaves. The development of slavery in cotton plantations in the southern United States also became a slave walk in the19th century.

An important reason for the enduring private trade.

The slave trade flourished for two reasons:

First of all, plantation slavery in the United States is a product of special historical conditions. Historically, when a person

In a socio-economic form, the exchange value of products is dominant, not the use value, that is, in developed countries.

In the state of commodity economy, slaves will be widely used in production fields, such as slaves in ancient Greece and Rome.

Official system; On the contrary, in a self-sufficient natural economy, the demand for surplus labor is large or small.

If the scope is limited, the nature of production itself will not cause unlimited demand for surplus labor.

This kind of slavery has the nature of moderate paternalism, and its parents are in the ancient East and sub-Saharan Africa.

Slavery (also translated as family slavery) is such. Plantation slavery in the United States is different from slavery in history.

Any developed slavery is not related to the general commodity economy, but involves capitalism.

The world market is dominated by the mode of production. This market makes the export of their products a major interest. because

Therefore, it is bound to be dominated by the laws of capitalist economy, and it is necessary to continuously expand reproduction to survive.

As far as the cash crops on American plantations are concerned, only in the vast natural fertile fields that only require simple labor.

It is beneficial to use a large number of slaves for large-scale operation in the world. Therefore, plantations must continue to develop outward.

Only by constantly cultivating new fertile soil can slavery have vitality. As mentioned above, since the middle of17th century,

Plantation slavery in West India and the American continent can exist and develop only by constantly exploring new territories.

Yes Therefore, they also need to be transported into slaves continuously to increase the labor supply.

Secondly, in addition to the continuous expansion and renewal of plantations, another important factor is the death of slaves.

The mortality rate is too high and needs to be constantly supplemented. Due to the combination of plantation slavery and capitalist production mode in the United States,

As Marx said, it means adding another layer of overwork to the cruel disaster of slavery.

Ming disaster. Due to the infinite pursuit of profit, the slavery of workers not only broke through the moral pole.

Limit, but also broke through the physical limit. Economic interests became the cause of torture and death of slaves. In some places,

Black people only need to work hard for seven years. In other words, every seven years, the black labor force is exhausted.

You have to update it. Moreover, because slaves are cheap, farmers would rather buy slaves from outside, too.

I don't want slaves to have children and realize the reproduction of labor itself. Many farmers frankly admit:

"Buying is cheaper than raising." (1) so there are few children in the plantation, and the death rate of slaves often exceeds the birth rate.

Rate. On Saint Vincent Island, 2,656 blacks were born and 4,205 died in one year. Therefore, it is getting hotter and hotter.

Wherever the crops are taken, black people's lives are regarded as dirt. For centuries, West India has become a great wealth.