School Writing Assignments

Commonlit Assignment - English II Pre-AP

    In the text, "West African Society at the Point of European Contact," the author communicates the differences between the traditional form of slavery practiced in Africa and the plantation slavery practiced in the Americas. The original form of slavery, in Africa, was profoundly different from the form practiced by Europeans mainly because of the way that they treated their slaves. First of all, many Europeans practiced uncivil and abusive forms of slavery. Using background information on the history of slavery in the US, I can say that the Europeans whipped, beat, scarred, and even killed their slaves for being disobedient. They rarely granted their slaves freedom and treated them as property to profit off of them, not as humans. Slaves in Africa before European Contact were treated fairly and not abused. They [the slaves] were attended to as close family members of their legal owners and taken into the lives of the community that they lived. Some slaves were even awarded freedom from slavery by their owners and prospered in their community. The text states, "Many slaves achieved high honors in their communities, and freedom granted by their owners was not uncommon." This citation supports the notion that the African form of slavery was more compassionate and less abusive of their slaves than the Europeans were because the slaves were treated like humans, even if they were legally considered property.