Final answer:
African slavery in the New World differed from prior forms of slavery due to the creation of a race-based system of enslavement led by Europeans, with a focus on the inhumane treatment and justification of lifelong, hereditary servitude of Africans.
Step-by-step explanation:
African slavery in the New World fundamentally differed from past instances of slavery and other systems of labor in that it was deeply rooted in emerging concepts of race, which European enslavers used to justify the brutal treatment of enslaved Africans. European enslavers operated under a belief system that construed Africans as natural slaves due to their skin color and non-Christian status, which was reinforced by religious decrees like the papal bull of 1452 endorsing perpetual slavery for non-Christians.
As a consequence, European nations constructed an extensive infrastructure including slave "factories" in West Africa to facilitate the transatlantic slave trade. This cruel practice was bolstered by economic motivations and rationalizations that led to the inhuman conditions endured by enslaved people, including the horrors of the Middle Passage, where nearly 25% of abducted Africans died en route to the Americas.
Furthermore, this new form of slavery, unlike other labor systems of the time, was hereditary and lifelong, meaning that not only the enslaved individuals but also their descendants were bound to perpetual servitude. Slavery became codified in law and social norms, creating a wide schism between freedom and enslavement. The consequences of European enslavement are evident in the enormous human toll, the cultural and social destabilization in Africa, and the establishment of a racialized societal structure in the New World that persisted long after the abolition of slavery.