Final answer:
New World slavery was characterized by a racial system that permanently commodified African bodies for the economic development of the Western world, a stark contrast to earlier forms of slavery. This has had lasting effects on race relations and the structure of modern capitalist society.
Step-by-step explanation:
Slavery in the New World was fundamentally different from past instances of slavery and other systems of labor during the same era due to the racial basis upon which it was built. Unlike in ancient civilizations where slaves could be of any ethnicity and slavery was not always a permanent condition, the transatlantic slave trade commodified individuals based solely on their race, creating an enduring legacy of racial inequality. This racial slavery system was designed to economically benefit the capitalist expansion of the Western world by producing commodities like sugar and cotton, which were vital to the global market.
African and African-American slaves resisted their enslavement and found ways to form new communities and cultures, demonstrating the adaptability and resilience of the enslaved. These unique conditions of slavery in the New World, including the permanent and inheritable status of enslavement, coupled with the sheer scale of the transatlantic slave trade, make it a distinct and particularly horrific chapter in human history.
In understanding these historical perspectives, it's crucial to recognize how the characteristics of New World slavery have shaped contemporary discussions on race, economics, and social justice.