ShmoopTube

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Here’s your shmoop du jour, brought to you by slavery.

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Can’t live with it. [Slaves appear in field]

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Can’t…

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Well, really we just shouldn’t live with it.

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OK, time to get a glimpse at humanity's wart-ridden, ugly side.

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Slavery.

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Everybody knows it was a big deal.

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But, seriously…it was a really big deal, majorly shaping the world as we know it today. [Man shaping the earth]

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Some highlights on the Atlantic slave trade…

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It enslaved millions…yes, millions…of Africans and shipped them off to the Americas

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and other places to work on plantations.

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It gave rise to nations in North and South America and made a ton of money for Europe [Man covered in money laughing]

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in the process.

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It forever altered the balance of world power, helping Europe and the US to stay in the forefront [Europe and US balancing on slaves shoulders]

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even to this day.

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Yeah, we’d say that qualifies as a Grade A really big deal. [Grade A ship appears]

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Of course, slavery didn't just spring out of nowhere.

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A bunch of sleazy Europeans didn't get together and think…

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Hey, you know what’d be fun?

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Making loads of cash by horrifically exploiting people! [Europeans eyes turn to dollar symbols]

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Slavery has been around for a seriously long time.

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Not only did slavery thrive in many ancient societies, but also many religions were totally

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cool with it.

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And we’re talkin’ major religions, not cults lead by some dude named Earl. [Earl holding poisonous lemonade]

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Back in the day, people accepted slavery as a fact of life…

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Like socks that disappear from the dryer… [Dryer eats a sock]

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Or the coke machine that always eats your quarters.

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Annoying, but what can you really do about it? [People chasing a coke vending machine]

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However, for a long time, owning human beings was not all that profitable.

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You had to clothe 'em, feed 'em, pay for their cable, and you really didn't get that much

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labor in return.

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But that changed in the 15th century, when slavery suddenly became as profitable as iPhones.

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What happened?

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Well, there was a major labor shortage in the Americas since the indigenous peoples

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weren’t too keen about working on European plantations. [Man appears on plantation]

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So European colonizers were willing to shell out the big bucks for workers. [Man carrying giant dollar bill]

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What does that spell?

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Everybody’s favorite blemish on the soul of humanity: the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.

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Slaves were shipped across the Atlantic on a Hell-like voyage called the Middle Passage. [Ship sailing across sea]

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Usually, slaves were barely fed and were chained closely together in the hulls of ships that [Slaves chained on the ships hull]

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made the NYC sewer system look sanitary.

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When a slave died, which was pretty darn likely, his or her body was simply tossed over the [Men throw slaves body overboard]

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side of the ship.

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On the other side of the Atlantic, slaves were welcomed with a life of hard labor, rape,

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and all the other joys that come with forced servitude.

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Besides being awful for the slaves, themselves, the slave trade also wreaked havoc on African

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politics.

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How?

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By giving power and wealth to the most aggressive rulers. [African President carrying pot of gold]

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You know the ones who thought it was totally fine to betray their fellow countrymen to

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get some gold.

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Of course, some African states weren’t totally on the slavery bandwagon. [Slavery bandwagon drives by]

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Which is good because it’s a pretty gross bandwagon.

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Some rulers tried to restrict or regulate the slave trade.

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And some took a stand against it all together. [Man slaps slavery bandwagon]

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But all in all, the slave trade was so powerful, most states allowed slave traders to do their

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thing.

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After years of awful suffering and sometimes-bloody struggle, the abolitionist movement did finally

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get slavery outlawed in the Western World.

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So that’s good.

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But don’t start singing It’s a Wonderful World just yet. [Man singing in the park]

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Sure, the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade has gone to its grave.

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But despite laws against it, slavery still exists today on a depressingly large scale. [Woman slave sweeping]

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If all the world's current slaves were a country, then that country would have roughly as many

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people as Canada.....yeah, lot of maple syrup.

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