Slavery has been around for a while. But do you really know how it started? In Copper Sun, Amari is taken from Africa and was brought over to America to be a slave. She was forced to work for Mr. Derby otherwise she would be whipped and severely injured. That was called the slave trade. White men and people from other tribes would capture the Africans. They would trade them for goods such as rum, cloth, knifes and guns. Then the Africans would be put on a ship to be brought over to the Americas. The slaves were treated awful on the way over. Many got diseases and had to be thrown overboard to prevent the spread, and many starved to death. Every one and eight people died on the ship to America between 1525 and 1867. Other people died shortly after they arrived. In the 1700s there were about 2,750,000 slaves taken from Africa and 7,000,000 in the 18th century. During the whole slave trade, Africa lost over twelve and a half people! When they got there, they were forced to work as slaves for white men just because of the color of their skin. Many of the slaves were whipped and mistreated so much, they died from their injuries. Others got sick and died. The slave trade lasted 350 years until it was suppressed in 1867.