Final answer:
The Atlantic slave trade and American slavery were marked by chattel slavery's hereditary and dehumanizing aspects, contrasting with other historical forms such as European serfdom or African slavery where some rights and social mobility were possible.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Atlantic slave trade and American slavery represented a significantly different institution from previous forms of slavery on other continents. Unlike earlier systems such as European serfdom or African forms of slavery, where individuals retained some personal rights and there was potential for social mobility, slavery in the New World was chattel slavery. This meant that enslaved people were treated as property that could be bought, sold, inherited, or gifted. More importantly, this status was hereditary, with the children of enslaved women also born into slavery. Slaves were processed like cargo, deprived of their humanity, and subjected to branding and forced Christianization. The Trans-Atlantic slave trade was characterized by its brutality, high mortality rates beginning from the forced march to trading posts and continuing through the Middle Passage, and the disregard for the enslaved as human beings.