Chapter 14, Part 2

In the second reading of chapter 14 I really enjoyed reading about the Atlantic Slave trade. I think in order for the world to not repeat mistakes that were made in the past we have to learn about our past no matter how painful or gruesome it might be. The Atlantic Slave is discussed by Strayer as being between 1500 -1866 and it was were human beings from all over took about 12.5 million people from African societies and shipped them across the famous Middle Passage were they deposited about 10.7 million of them in the Americas. Strayer talks about the death of these people being around 1.8 million just during the voyage to the Americas while many other deaths also came from the capturing of these people. While this event in history is a gruesome one to read and talk about, I feel like it is important for everyone to be educated on this. Because during the time period it was a common thing to own slaves and have another human being as your property, many people went along with this way of life instead of objecting to it. Therefore, for individuals today it is important to be educated on just how wrong and unjust this was and how no person should be treated like this or enslaved. Therefore, while reading Strayer and looking at the way he portrayed this particular part of history, I enjoyed it because he is straightforward and gets to the point of what happened rather than being too soft about it or too harsh about it. The chapter goes on to discuss in detail exactly what the slave trade was like and how it became what it was. Throughout the rest of the chapter he keeps the information valid and necessary rather than adding too much flavor or keeping it too dull. I can’t help but wonder how things in this world would have turned out if someone had put a stop to slave trade before it ever become such a worldwide phenomenon.