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Black History and Blacks in U.S. History
 Early Slave Trade

Early Slave Trade
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 5
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   4.5

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    enslave, inhuman, merchandise, resold, cargo, slavery, port, endure, cases, molasses, wealthy, cramped, triangular, kings, triangle, eastern
     content words:    Early Greeks, Nile River, Sahara Desert, Slave Coast, Powerful African, New World, Central America, Middle Passage, New York

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Early Slave Trade
By Jane Runyon 		  
1     A slave is forced to work for someone else. Slaves are owned by their masters. Slavery did not begin in America. Slavery has been around for a very long time. The Bible tells of people captured during wars. They became slaves to their captors.
 
2     Very early slaves became house servants to their masters. More women than men were taken as slaves. Many became chambermaids.
 
3     Scientists have found signs of slavery as far back in history as 3000 B.C. These signs were found in Mesopotamia. China had slaves in 206 B.C. Early Greeks and Romans let their slaves do their work for them. Tribes in Africa used their captives as slaves.
 
4     Slave trade was conducted up and down the Nile River. Then the camel was brought to northern Africa from Arabia. Slave traders began creating routes through the Sahara Desert. Slave traders would trade their human merchandise for perfumes, cloth, and spices. These products were hard to find in the western part of Africa.
 
5     The west coast of Africa became known as the Slave Coast. Powerful African kings began to trade with Europeans. In the 1500's, Portugal, Spain, France, and England all wanted to be part of the slave trade. England's strong navy helped them to take control of slave trading in the Atlantic area.

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