Changes in the USA - Essay Example

Changes in the U.S. Migration of People from Western Africa to the United s One of the groups that migrated to the United States included people from Western Africa. These people unwillingly migrated to the United States in 1619, when slavery was in its prime in the United States. A Dutch ship that carried African slaves docked at Point Comfort; this area used to serve as the checkpoint of Jamestown for the ships that wanted to carry out trade with the colonists (Thorton, 2004). The migration of people from Western Africa to the United States can be termed a case of forced migration.

The people from Western Africa moved to the United States during the time of the slave trade, which carried people of the black race to America. There was further forced migration that constituted the internal slave trade, which carried black people from the Atlantic coast to the American South interior (Horton & Horton, 2005). According to Klein (2010), the initial experience of the group in America constituted mistreatment from the landowners and white Americans. They could be locked in stinking slave ships and lost freedom, and they were subjected to long years of slavery that followed their stay in the United States.

There used to be inhumane acts that caused a lot of suffering to the blacks before they could cope with life in a new environment. Over time, the experience of West Africans in the United States changed, especially with the realization that they needed to liberate themselves. The blacks gained determination to free themselves from dehumanizing circumstances, as they gained confidence that could eventually gain freedom. The American civil war resulted from the continuous efforts of slaves to be free from bondage.

The migration of West Africans to the United States during the slave trade had significant impacts on life in the United States. The immigration of this group changed the United States in that it led to economic development, which was fuelled by the presence of cheap labor to work on farms. Industrial Revolution emerged from the transatlantic slave trade since the slaves could provide the labor needed in industries. The immigration of West Africans to the United States also led to the rise of slums, which mainly comprised poor slaves.

In addition, there emerged stratification and discrimination based on gender whereby African Americans could not access the privileges accorded to white Americans (Jalloh & Falola, 2008).