1.3 West Africa and the Role of Slavery — How Economics Engineered Race-Based Slavery | U.S. History
After this lesson you will be able to…
- Understand how systems can be meticulously designed for human misery.
- Explore the economic power and societal structure of early West African empires.
- Differentiate pre-colonial forms of human bondage from later race-based slavery.
- Understand how the mercantilist system led to permanent, inherited, race-based slavery.
- Recognize that race-based slavery was an engineered business decision, not biological hatred.
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(0)This lesson explores the wealthy empires of early West Africa and traces the calculated economic steps that transformed an ancient institution of bond...
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Quiz: Origins of Race-Based Slavery and West African Empires
FundamentalsAnswer the following questions based only on what was presented in the video lesson. No outside knowledge is required.
Create: An Analytical Essay Outline on the Origins of Race-Based Slavery
PracticeUsing the framework from the video lesson, you will work step by step to produce a well-structured analytical essay outline that explains how and why race-based slavery emerged. This process mirrors how historians build arguments: from context, to causation, to reflection.