Julia Henderson

Period 4
3/14/17
Transatlantic Slave Trade and Modern Human Trafficking Comparison Essay

There is a common misconception that slavery ended in the 19th century; the truth is that

slavery is still prominent today but is now known as human trafficking. Human trafficking is

defined by the TVPA as "the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a

person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of

subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery." The slave trade that

ended in the 19th century is the transatlantic slave trade, in which European interests and African

entrepreneurs transported African mostly POW's to the West Indies, Brazil, Europe and the

Americas. Today, traffickers exploit mostly marginalized women and children because they are

the most vulnerable. Human trafficking is currently the fasted-growing organized crime in the

world, with at least 27 million slaves exploited--many more slaves than were traded 400 years

ago, and for a cheaper price. The transatlantic slave trade and human trafficking are similar in

that they are both motivated by monetary benefits but different in that human trafficking is more

sexually exploitative.

The transatlantic slave trade and modern human traficking are both motiviated by

money and the demand for goods and services. In the tranatlantic slave trade, impoverished

Africans would sometimes sell members of their family to slave traders for monetary

compensation. In the modern day a similar trend exists; families might sell women and children

into arranged mariages, traficking and slavery. Another motive of both past and present slavery

is the need for labor and rare goods. A big reason for the transatlantic slave trade was the growth

in sugar production which led to higher demand for plantation laborers. Similarily, labor and
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Period 4
3/14/17
prostitution are sadly services that are currently in demand and potentially lucrative. In the

transatlantic slave export, Africans were driven to sell slaves in exchange for rare european

goods like textiles, hardware and guns. Today, some people are traficked for the sake of organ

removal and the sale of organs-- while not so much a "good," organs are again valuable objects

that play a part in modern slavery. Another cause of slave trade was that Africans toke advantage

of vulnerable people by selling their prisoners of war into slavery. Similarily, in human

trafficking, women and children--especially those who are marginalized--are the main victims of

exploitation since they are the most vulnerable and can easily be taken advantage of.

In human trafficking, people are mainly sold for sexual exploitation compared to

transatlatic slavery that was for the sole purpose of slave labor. As before mentioned, in the past

plantation owners bought slaves to work in their plantation feilds. In the case of human

trafficking, 80% is for sexual exploitation and only 19% is for forced labor. The awful people

that are engaged in human trafficking rape and sexually abuse women and children as well as

men. Furthermore, young women are forced into prostitution and are victims to high rates of

sexually transmitted diseases. Another difference between the motives of past and present

slavery is that today's human trafficking, when it does involve forced labor, is driven by demand

in many different industries like illegal mining and chicken farming not only in plantation labor

like it was before. Subsequently, human trafficking takes place worldwide rather than just in

select wealthy plantation countries. Human trafficking has been reported in every country

worldwide, through it is slightly more prominent in developing countries than developed

countries. The opposite is true of the transatlantic slave trade, which exported mainly to Brazil,
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Period 4
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the West Indies, Portugal and Spain. Human trafficking is worst in parts of Asia as well as

Sudan, Cuba and Zimbabwe.

The impacts on individual victims of transatlantic slavery and human trafficking are

similar, though the local impacts of the transatlantic slave trade are more prominent than those of

human trafficking. Due to the brutal treatment of slaves and victims of traficking, both were/are

physically harmed from excessive labor. Victims of trafficking suffer from similar psychological

damages as slaves; this includes trauma and PTSD. Due to the sale of so many people into

slavery, central Africa experienced a population decline. Similarily, major prominence of human

trafficking can result in a smaller ratio of women to men since women are more often abducted

as victims. The close quarters of the middle passage caused many slaves to die of disease.

Similarily, sexual exploitation in human trafficking can result in victims contracting potentially

fatal diseases like HIV/AIDS. Victims of human traficking, like slaves, are often fed very little

and suffer from hunger and malnutrition. Locally, the transatlantic slave trade had a negative

impact on the African economy. Also, in the destinations of export slave trade, African

culture--including language and religion-- was suppressed becaus slave owners feared strong

heritage would translate into rebellion.

Even though the thirteenth amendment abolished slavery in 1865, slavery is still

happening in the U.S. (and worldwide) in the form of human trafficking. We must bring

awareness to the issue of modern forced labor and sexual exploitation in order to combat this

problem. Traffickers are getting away with commiting illegal acts. Our laws need to be better

inforced in order to protect victims from the same terrible impacts that the transatlantic slave

trade had on slaves.