Conclusion & Works Cited

Concluding Thoughts

      As one conducts research, every question raised brings about a multitude of new questions and branching paths of data to explore. As a seeker of knowledge, one naturally expresses interest and curiosity when delving in to these new paths. What makes one truly wise is the ability to combine this data and relate it to the original question raised. That process is exactly what was experienced with this project. With every new voyage discovered, every new dock, every new buyer of slaves was discovered, the question of slavery's impact was raised. Was this truly a "necessary" evil, or was it the capitalist's shortcut to profit? A look to Brazil and early America can lend more insight.

      In Brazil's numerous imports of slaves, we see the origination of the term mulatto and its impact in Brazil. With one of the maps provided by the database, we also see the racial background of the Caribbean islands. We also see the roots of the racial segregation and the class system they experienced. But not just there, a few thousand miles north in America we see the same system of oppression used to abuse these poor peoples in order to exploit them for cost efficient labor. Could this perhaps be a byproduct of slavery? Or was this mindset and social system derived from the society of the day? Could the economic impact of slavery be justified by analyzing regional production records and drawing a correlation to the increased output of crop? With every question raised, we get closer and closer to the point that we seek to use data to prove:

Was slavery justified?

      But even asking that question is morally and ethically skewed, evil, even. We know as people of the 21st century that slavery is wrong, and could never be justified. But in the course of history, could one argue that slavery brought change and revolution to our country? Could one argue that the events of history and the advances made in the world society could have been possible without the implications of the imprisonment of an entire race? While trying to keep our findings out of the field of ethics and armchair history, we can safely re-ask our question as:

Did slavery change our country?

      And to that question, we can safely say yes. Slavery changes every country it occurs in. We traditionally think of the African slavery when the term is used, but really, every race and creed is subject to a form of slavery at one point in their history. It is the history of oppression that drives humanity forward to discard what we once were, to head to a brighter future.

Works Cited