Compare and Contrast American Slavery to British Slavery Term Paper

Compare and Contrast American Slavery to British Slavery - Term Paper Example What is also important to note that slavery still exists in some other forms and people are still being slaved for different reasons. Recent news from Britain highlight that it may be existing in its traditional form even in societies like Britain in this era also. US and Britain are two of the most important countries in the world with rich history of slavery. Though both these countries are the developed countries but both these countries have a history of slavery and slave trade and it was legally abolished in 19th century. It is however, important to note that the nature of slavery and its mechanics were different in both the countries. This paper will discuss and highlight the comparison and contrast between the slavery in both these countries with special emphasis on how historical the patterns of slavery changed over the period of time in both these countries. Slavery in Britain Slavery in Britain is often less talked of and is find rare mention in the academic literature howe ver; Britain was one of the few countries which abolished the slavery trade in 1807 despite the fact that slave trade was one of the profitable occupations in the country. The overall history of slavery in Britain is however, more than 2000 years old with evidence of Romans mentioning about the British slaves. What is relatively different about Briton slaves was the fact that they enjoyed few rights and were not easily replaceable. However, they could marry with the consent of their Lord and had to work for fixed number of days without actually expecting payment for the work rendered. From 16th century to 19th century, Britain were also forced as slaves by the Barbary Pirates who were able to capture British ships and forced the sailors to slavery and were traded as slaves in other markets. (Morgan 2007) It is critical to note that the British Slave trade was the significant part of the overall history of slavery in the country. Slaves from North and East Africa were a common practi ce and Britain along with other European nations was actively involved in the trade of slaves from this region. More importantly, slaves were traded because Britain required labor and manpower to develop the land and its resources in Americas. The British slave trade therefore was largely based upon the notion of providing required manpower to the landowners as plantation owners in Americas. However, history of slavery trade in Britain also dates back to 1500s wherein British slave traders filled in the gap to provide slaves for sugar plantation in Americas and exported the processed sugar back to other countries of Europe. The Britain therefore became part of the Triangular trade in slavery wherein Portuguese as well as Dutch were involved in the slave trade also. Britain made a late entry into this market to fill in the gap left open by these two nations. (Morgan, 2000) The Workhouse slavery was another form of slavery which emerged in United Kingdom. This sort of slavery flourish ed wherein those who were poor with no alternatives were assigned to workhouses and were put under the forced labor. Workhouses also took new born illegitimate babies and subsequently put them in forced labor as they grew old and became capable of working. The modern roots of slavery in Britain also suggest that those who were convicted or punished were often sent as slaves to work on the government projects in the colonies of the British