Industrial Revolution and Atlantic Slave Trade

Everything I know about the Industrial Revolution and the Atlantic Slave Trade is from a US standpoint. The Industrial Revolution took place during the 18th and 19th centuries. During the Industrial Revolution in the US, there were inventions that led to great stimulus in economy and society. The inventions started with agriculture. Many machines were made, such as the cotton gin, that led to efficiency and speed while growing and picking crops. There were also industries and factories that produced goods in mass production. This brought jobs to many unskilled workers who would work all day in the factories with the machinery and produced many products in mass fashion, and received very cheap pay. It also took jobs away from many skilled craftsmen who took much longer to produce products. Overall, the new inventions from the Industrial Revolution greatly stimulated the economy because it led to a very cheap and efficient way for mass production and distribution across the US. This later led to successful trade with other countries of all the crops and other products.

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in the US was when Americans went to Africa and kidnapped many people who became slaves. The slaves were treated as property, and were bought, sold, and traded as if they were goods. A majority of the slaves in the US worked on plantations. There they picked crops such as cotton and worked long days in the blazing sun. They lived in terrible conditions, being given very little in terms of shelter and food. As the Industrial Revolution occurred, the demand for slaves declined. The reason for this was because new machinery could get a lot done much faster, so one person using the machinery could do the work of many in a day. After a while, the terrible living conditions of slaves sparked interest of people in the US, particularly in the North which led to questioning beliefs and rebellion.