How Slavery Sustained Itself in America.

How Slavery Sustained Itself in America.

When the United States banned the transatlantic slave trade in 1808, slavery continued through what we can literally call a "breeding plantation." Breeding wenches were forced to bore children as early as 12-15years, and by their 30's some already have 12 or more children. 

Between 1808 and 1860, the enslaved population in the U.S. grew from roughly 1 million to nearly 4 million people, largely through this inhumane process, and not through new imports.

This growth was made possible by a colonial legal doctrine known as partus sequitur ventrem, a principle that said a child inherited the legal status of the mother. If the mother was enslaved, the child was enslaved.

Under this law, birth itself became a source of wealth. Enslaved women were exploited not only for labor, but also for their ability to bear children. Historians document that slaveholders often encouraged reproduction and sometimes arranged pairings for economic reasons. S¢x∆al violence was also widespread and systemic.

Children born into slavery were legally considered property, not children and definitely not human.

My brother kamar Gullah added that: "Breeding" slaves was big money and it's something people don't discuss much. I put breeding in quotations because you don't breed humans. You breed animals.  So it let's you see the mentality of European Americans and how they viewed Africans and their descendants to this day, note this 👌🏾.

So even after the Atlantic trade ended, the institution sustained itself internally through law, coercion, and human exploitation.

It is a story about how law and economics turned human life into inherited property.

History is uncomfortable, but it must be understood.

The Africa Mirror ✍🏾