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The Plantation System

Driving Question: How was slavery in the Atlantic plantation system different from earlier forms of slavery?

While the concept of slavery was certainly not new—slavery has existed in various forms throughout much of human history—the transatlantic slave trade and the plantation system it supported were distinct in terms of their scale, organization, and racialized nature. The more than 12 million enslaved Africans who were forcibly transported to the Americas over the course of several centuries were treated literally as legal property, and the transatlantic slave trade was accompanied by the development of racial theories and ideologies that sought to justify the enslavement of Africans based on perceived racial hierarchies. This racialization of slavery contributed to the long-lasting impact of racism in the Americas.

  1. Understand and critique the motives and justifications for the transatlantic slave trade.
  2. Evaluate how conceptions of race affected communities and labor systems.
  3. Use the historical thinking practice of continuity and change over time to assess how the first global age transformed communities, networks, and production and distribution.
STEP 2
STEP 3
Extension Materials
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