Help with ap us history question?

Question

its a true flase question : the beginnings of african slavary developed in response to the spanish conquest of the americas

i said false b/c afican slavary develpoed in response to europeans wanting a cheaper route to treasures (spices, gold etc) in the east

am i right? if im not, can you please explain?

Answer 1

Before 1400: Slavery had existed in Europe from Classical times and did not disappear with the collapse of the Roman Empire. Slaves remained common in Europe throughout the early medieval period. However, slavery of the Classical type became increasingly uncommon in Northern Europe and, by the 11th and 12th centuries, had been effectively abolished in the North. Nevertheless, forms of unfree labour, such as villeinage and serfdom, persisted in the north well into the early modern period. In Southern and Eastern Europe, Classical-style slavery remained a normal part of the society and economy and trade across the Mediterranean and the Atlantic seaboard meant that African slaves began to appear in Italy, Spain, Southern France, and Portugal well before the discovery of the New World in 1492. From about the 8th century onwards, an Arab-run slave trade also flourished, with much of this activity taking place in East Africa, Arabia, and the Indian Ocean.

In addition, many African societies themselves had forms of slavery, although these differed considerably, both from each other and from the European and Arabic forms. Although various forms of unfree labour were prevalent in Europe throughout its history, historians refer to 'Chattel Slavery', in which slaves are commodities to be bought and sold, rather than domestic servants or agricultural workers. Chattel Slavery is the characteristic form of slavery in the modern world, and this chronology is concerned primarily with this form.

Answer 2

This is really, really hard!

I'd say false because African slavery existed prior to colonialism - in Africa and elsewhere in the world. That's a more World History answer.

However, the quick and multiple deaths of natives enslaved by the spainards led to the buildup of triangular trade and the need to import slaves.  So if its really meaning African slavery in the Americas (and I think it is), the answer would be true.  I'd look in your book for triangular trade and see if it alludes to the correct answer.

Answer 3

African slavery existed long before the discovery of the New World, but its use in the New World (western hemisphere) did begin with early Spanish and Portuguese exploration, conquest and settlement. Seeking a new route to the riches of the east may have been the reason for the discovery of the New World, but this seems too far removed from the eventual importation of African slaves. In a direct sense, the statement seems to be true.

Answer 4

African slavery began in the US, because cheap labor was needed to work the cotton plantations.

Africans themselves participated in the slave trade, captured people, sometimes those already enslaved, sold them to traders.  Africans came into demand in the US, once the source of indentured servants (people who paid for their passage with their labor) as a source of cheap labor dried up.

In the Spanish parts of the New World, slavery began as cheap labor for the mines and sugar plantations.  Unlike the US, slavery was not usually hereditary.