Race-based slavery

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Race-based Slavery
There have been many pieces of evidence pointing towards the existence of slavery in the past centuries. The written history, ranging from poems to history books, is one of the tools that have been used by historians over the years to trace back to the life during those centuries. However, the development of the Atlantic Slave Trade brought in a new type of slavery, which was entirely based on races. In this new chapter of life, race determined whether you were a slave or a free man. This essay will focus on the concept of blackness and the justifications of race-based slavery according to the Europeans.
The word ‘race’ had no real social meaning before the early years of the 16th century. Different terms such as ‘white’ and ‘black,’ had very little meaning in the lives of the people (Jordan et al. 7). When England entered into its colonial era, it began with Ireland where the British learned the benefits of having a plantation colony. They, therefore, decided to extend their jurisdiction to other continents, with Africa included. The British captured the Irish, imprisoned them and later sold them to the Americans. Their transportation was no better than that of the Atlantic Slave Trade. During this time, the whites and the blacks were still considered equals regarding slavery. The concept of capturing people and using them in farms was still based on religion, with those who were not Christians being taken captive.
By 1650, this had taken another turn.

Slavery was now based on color and not religion. Nathaniel Bacon, a renowned rebel, led a group of Blacks and poor whites in Virginia in 1676. Bacon’s Rebellion triggered a new law. Any Black who was found guilty of a crime was sentenced to lifetime slavery while the whites simply had a few years added on top of their terms. The rift between the whites and the blacks gradually increased with the poor whites also accepting that ‘Blackness’ was equal to slavery (Jordan et al. 44).
Black skin was now regarded as one of the reasons for enslavement. Although it could be argued that the race theorists are the ones who opened the box of the ‘black curse,’ they came up with their theories long after slavery had taken root. According to the Greeks, the concept of black people came about when Phaeton took the chariot of the sun and flew towards the direction of the earth. They believe that Phaeton flew so close to the earth that his flame burnt the skin of other people on earth and therefore the following generation found their skin color forms the semen of their ancestors (Curran and Andrew 125). Hippocrates, on the other hand, believed that blood, yellow and black bile are the determinants of a human body’s nature. According to them, black bile is because of poor blood mixture and has serious repercussions on the character of a person (Curran and Andrew 134). The Europeans, therefore, considered it as the criterion used to sort out those of the so-called lower racial origin. In the theological world, blackness was equal to darkness, which was a symbol of the devil.
The concept of blackness and whiteness has evolved from just a matter of pigmentation to economic and political issues. During the Western civilization, whiteness was considered the superpower in such matters. It was a story, which excluded the blacks from any development-related matters. During the 18th century and parts of the 19th century, Europeans were spreading propaganda trying to justify their reasons for enslavement. The campaign died together with slavery following the abolition of slave trade in the 19th century but the idea of blackness lived on.
It is obvious that slavery has no place in the modern world. The justifications given by the slaveholders would make some sense during those dark days but would not find any favor in the current century. One of the justifications given was that Blacks created by God to be slaves b nature. This was in reference to the Old Testament Israel where God chose the Israelites, and those who were pagans suffered God’s wrath (Schmidt and Christopher 22). The whites, therefore, believed that they had the right to enslave those nations that they deemed inferior.
The ‘inferior’ nature of the Blacks was another justification they used for their deeds. The slaveholders believed that the Blacks deserved the cruel treatment they received from their masters because they had no powers. A ridiculous argument was that slavery was ‘never’ going to be abolished. This statement lacked any basis in it as the act was abolished barely two centuries later. However, before its abolishment, it was used as a form of punishment, and the elites saw this as a more effective form of punishment.
Slavery, especially the race-based enslavement, was the main event in the 17th century. The emergence of the Atlantic Slave Trade took slavery to another level with the slaveholders curious to understand the Black’s character. Despite the justifications given by the undertakers of these actions, the fact remains that slavery has no place in a morally upright society. The Blacks have risen to the light in the recent years in a bid to show their worth to the world. The more the world becomes civilized, the more the relationship between the Blacks and the Whites strengthen.

Works Cited
Curran, Andrew S. The Anatomy of Blackness: Science and Slavery in an Age of Enlightenment. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011. UPCC Book Collections on Project MUSE. EBSCOhost (accessed February 17, 2018)
Jordan, Winthrop D. and Culture Omohundro Institute of Early American History &. White over Black: American Attitudes toward the Negro, 1550-1812. Vol. Second edition with new forewords / by Christopher Leslie Brown and Peter H. Wood, Omohundro Institute and University of North Carolina Press, 2012. Published for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Virginia. EBSCOhost (accessed February 17, 2018)
Schmidt-Nowara, Christopher. Slavery, Freedom, and Abolition in Latin America and the Atlantic World. University of New Mexico Press, 2011. Diálogos. EBSCOhost (accessed February 17, 2018)