Final answer:
American slavery differed from other forms of historical slavery due to its basis in race, where the enslaved had no legal status and were considered property subject to inheritance and trade. Unlike in the past, where slavery wasn't inherently racial, the New World instituted racial slavery, perpetuating inequality and the severe mistreatment of African slaves as chattel.
Step-by-step explanation:
American slavery was fundamentally different from other historical forms of slavery in its codification and racial underpinnings. In particular, chattel slavery in the New World was unique due to it being based explicitly on race, which legally and socially institutionalized inequality and oppression against those of African descent.
This racism-ensconced system viewed African slaves not simply as forced labor, but as property that could be bought, sold, inherited, or given away like inanimate objects. Slaveholders perpetuated the belief in the innate inferiority of Black people to justify this brutal system.
The transatlantic slave trade and the Middle Passage became punitive symbols of this era, characterizing a dehumanizing trade where millions of Africans were forcibly brought to the Americas and sold into slavery. Their legal non-status as persons denied them basic rights, and their enslavement was made hereditary, perpetuating an enslaved class through generations.
The racial aspect of slavery was not as pronounced in ancient times or in other forms of slavery that existed globally. Prior to the era of European exploration, slavery did not necessarily correlate with race. It was after this period that racial slavery became a hallmark of North American and European colonial institutions, transforming the character and perception of slavery as being inherent to people of a certain race.
This transition to a system where race was bound to the institution of slavery vastly altered social and political landscapes, establishing a legacy that has impacted societies well into modern times.