Millions of Africans died in slave ships en route from Africa to America. A lifetime of bondage awaited those who survived the trip. This crime against a people-enslavement, exploitation, of millions of Africans is an American tragedy at its highest level. The legacy of slavery continues to bind many African Americans. Slavery was wrong and African Americans should be paid reparations, for illegal transport, abduction, and unpaid labor.
             The historical record of slavery deals almost completely with the beliefs and actions of whites in Europe and North America. The contribution of the slaves themselves has been incompletely documented. How slaves transformed their African experiences into revolutionary action against the institution of slavery still has to be explored. Even specialists of Africa have inadvertently overlooked the importance of black abolitionist thought and action.
             African slaves were transported to Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central & South America, starting very early in the 16th century.
             Landowners in the American colonies originally met their need for forced labor by enslaving a limited number of Natives, and "hiring" many more European indentured servants. In exchange for their transportation across the Atlantic, the servants committed to work for the landowner for 4 to 7 years. A few slaves were imported from Africa as early as 1619. With the spread of tobacco farming in the 1670's, and the diminishing number of people willing to sign-on as indentured servants in the 1680's, increasing numbers of slaves were brought in from Africa. They replaced Native American slaves, who were found to be susceptible to diseases of European origin. "...small numbers of white people were also enslaved by kidnapping, or for crimes or debts. Eventually 600 to 650 thousand slaves arrived in America against their will". (Encarta)
             Slavery was an attractive proposition to landowners. I...