African Slave Trade

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African Slave Trade
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What was Africa like before the slave trade?

• Before slavery Africa was mostly peaceful.
• They had kings and queens, rich and poor and it
  was like anywhere else
• They had a wide variety of political
  arrangements including kingdoms, city-states and
  other organizations with different cultures and
  languages.
• European visitors to Africa recognized that many
  African societies were as advanced or even more
  so than their own.
• Before the slave trade, African leaders saw
  Europeans as equal to themselves.

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3 Main Trades

• Trans-Saharan Slave Trade (900-1500)
• East African Slave Trade (900-1600)
• Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade (1500-late 1800s)

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Trans-Saharan Slave Trade

• Trade routes economically connected the
  Mediterranean coast, Southern Europe, the Middle
  East and Asia to West Africa
• Items of trade into West Africa silks, cotton,
  cloth, beads, mirrors, dates, salt
• Items received gold, ivory, gum, kola nuts and
  slaves.

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East African Slave Trade

• Trade between East Africa, the Middle East and
  Asia
• East African slaves traded to Persia, Egypt,
  Arabia, India and as far as Malaysia and
  Indonesia
• Slaves traded for silk, spices, gold and silver

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Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

• Atlantic system was the trade of African slaves
  by mostly English, Brazilian, French and Dutch
  traders.
• The main destinations of this phase were the
  Caribbean colonies and Brazil, as a number of
  European countries built up economically
  slave-dependent colonial empires in the New
  World.

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Triangular Trade
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Destination Percentage (1450-1900)

• Brazil- 35.4
• Spanish Empire- 22.1
• British West Indies- 17.7
• French West Indies- 14.1
• British North America and Future USA- 4.4
• Dutch West Indies- 4.4
• Danish West Indies- 0.2

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The Middle Passage

• The journey across the Atlantic took
  approximately six months to complete
• A slave ship could hold up to 300 slaves and 30
  crewmen
• Conditions were horrendous and food was scarce
• 20 of all enslaved Africans died on while on the
  middle passage (1 out of every 5)

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Coffin Position
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Captives Thrown Overboard
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J.M. Turner
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Motivation for the Slave Trade

• Dehumanization
• Agricultural economies depended on manual labor

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Abolition of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade

• African Resistance to slavery everyday Africans,
  African ruling elite, growing abolitionist
  support, overt resistance by African slaves
• Change in attitude of Europe towards the slave
  trade
• No longer made economic sense
• Industrial Revolution and growth of legitimate
  trade

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The Impact of the Slave Trade on Africa

• Population loss Various accounts show between 9
  and 12 million Africans taken during the Atlantic
  slave trade
• Inter-state conflicts
• Rise and disappearance of kingdoms
• Disease
• Culture changes
• Stagnation of African Industry
• Long Distance trade/marketing grew
• Economic dependency on European economy
• Development of racism
• Transformation of slavery in Africa
• Introduction of new slave systems