African in America logo non-tabled version The Terrible Transformation
<---Part 1: 1450-1750
Part 2: 1750-1805
Part 3: 1791-1831
Part 4: 1831-1865

Narrative | Resource Bank | Teacher's Guide


Introduction









The years 1450-1750 brought enormous changes to the North American continent. The native Americans, or Indians, as the Europeans came to call them, first encountered European explorers, and before long, saw their world transformed and largely destroyed by European settlers. And European explorers not only ventured to the lands and natural wealth of the Americas; they also traveled to Africa, where they began a trans-Atlantic slave trade that would bring millions of Africans to the Americas as well. This slave trade would over time lead to a new social and economic system: one where the color of one's skin could determine whether he or she might live as a free citizen or be enslaved for life.



Next: Map: The British Colonies


Part 1 Narrative:

• Introduction
Map: The British Colonies
Europeans Come to Western Africa
New World Exploration and English Ambition
From Indentured Servitude to Racial Slavery
The African Slave Trade and the Middle Passage
The Growth of Slavery in North America





Part 1: Narrative | Resource Bank Contents | Teacher's Guide

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