ABSTRACT
Slavery worked best in the South where the products needed in Europe were most easily grown. Within the slave communities, masters sought to reduce the social bases of independence that might lead to non-cooperation. Through a process of de-socialization and resocialization a new class of people was created, without any identity except their status as slaves, apart from the few African cultural traits they managed to maintain. Commercial penetration into Africa made the Africans dependent upon exchange with the foreign slave traders, while resulting in the domination of large areas of sub-Saharan Africa by Islamic peoples. Involuntary servitude was reinstated by local governments via arrests of African-American citizens, often on fake charges or for minor infractions. Violence was clearly reserved for those African Americans who violated the racial codes, often ending in public lynching of a black victim as a reminder to others that resistance was futile.
