The Emergence of Slavery in the 15th Century

What was the primary purpose of creating legal and political systems in America during the slavery era?

What was the result of the racialized slavery system in America?

What is the significance of the Transatlantic Slave Trade in contemporary America?

What is the goal of this report, according to Bryan Stevenson?

Why is an honest engagement with America's past essential, according to Bryan Stevenson?

What was the primary goal of European powers in exploiting the newly discovered lands in the 15th century?

What was the outcome of European powers' attempt to enslave Indigenous people?

What was the nature of slavery in the 'colonies' that became the United States?

What was the approximate number of deaths during the Middle Passage across the ocean?

Enslavement and Human Rights

The enslavement of human beings is a painful and tragic episode in world history, denying people freedom, autonomy, and life, and representing the worst kind of human rights abuse.

The Era of Enslavement

European powers sent ships and armed militia to exploit new lands for wealth and profit in the 1400s, leading to the enslavement of Indigenous people and the catastrophic genocide of millions of Native people.

The Transatlantic Slave Trade

The Transatlantic Slave Trade was a horrific era of kidnapping, abduction, and trafficking that resulted in the enslavement of millions of African people.
Nearly two million people died during the Middle Passage across the ocean.
The African continent was left destabilized and vulnerable to conquest and violence for centuries.

Slavery in the Americas

The Americas became a place where race and color created a caste system defined by inequality and abuse.
In the "colonies" that became the United States, slavery took on uniquely appalling features, with Black people being dehumanized and abused while being enslaved and denied basic freedoms.
Legal and political systems were created to codify racial hierarchy and ensure white supremacy.

Legacy of Slavery

Slavery became permanent and hereditary, defined by race-based ideologies that insisted on racial subordination of Black people for decades after the formal abolition of slavery.
The economic legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade includes generational wealth and the founding of industries that continue to thrive today.
The report aims to initiate meaningful conversations about the history of slavery in America and its legacy.

Learn about the tragic history of human enslavement, particularly the new era of enslavement that emerged in the 15th century and its devastating impact on human history. Explore how European discovery of lands occupied by Indigenous people led to this era of enslavement.