Assess the Impact of European Commecial Activities in the Atlantic Island and West Africa from 1415-1600

Africa’s Discovery of Europe, written by David Northrup and much as its name implies, is a monograph detailing Sub-Saharan Africa, starting from 1450 to 1850. This broad timespread starts just before Columbus sailed the ocean blue and ends just beyond the Industrial Revolution. Originally published in 2002, Northrup intended for readers to see Europe from a different perspective; from the lense of African people. The title, Africa’s Discovery of Europe, is interesting within itself. In many cases, majority of people believe it was Europe that opened up the world and conquered the Americas and discovered all this new land, and a sliver of that is true, so many countries surrounding Europe were already major, active players in the modernizing world already. In this case, as Europe was discovering Africa, Africa was also discovering Europe. It switches the mind of the reader from a Eurocentric role to an African one. Northrup discusses how contact was not one-sided, and depicts accurate descriptions of African interactions amongst other Africans and Europeans. Northrup shows the reader that African people were discovering Europe very actively, not passively; African people physically go to European countries and have first-hand experiences with European people and lifestyles.

The document from Luis de Cadamosto detailed an early Portuguese expedition in 1455 to Gambia, located on the coast of West Africa. Cadamosto was a chronicler of Portuguese decent who took part in this expedition, and narrated the events that took place. The document entails that the Portuguese did not quietly sail to Gambia, but rather they were met with resistance that resulted in a conflict between the Portuguese and those encountered. However, this document does provide information of early expeditions. In this short essay, I will discuss how this document provides insight into the interactions between different sides of the Atlantic Oceans, as well as shedding light on the possible motivations of early oversea expeditions and presence

The controversial scholarly journal of Robert S Wolff explores the history of the first trade encounters between the Portuguese in Africa and Asia, controversy lying in its separation from the Western narrative. Throughout the article, the author is trying to figure out the motives or other considerations playing a role behind the actions of Portuguese and other Europeans, such as choosing violent ways of making a profit in the lands of Africa and Asia, rather than using the existing trade networks, to emerge as the world ruler. In his view, Europeans had claimed themselves to be the “center of the world” way before they have risen to that title. European countries were looking for profitable trade in wealthy lands full of gold, consequently lack of resources and other valuable goods became a barrier to their success in the already existing channels.This is seen in da Gamma’s first encounter with the local ruler of Calicut, where his gifts were considered substandard to that of the poorest merchant, as seen by the local advisor.

”European ships brought manufactured goods to Africa, trading them for people. They carried Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas where they were sold into slavery (The Atlantic Slave Trade).” Europeans fueled trade by selling African slaves in exchange for sugar, coffee, and tobacco, impacting economies in both, Europe and the Americas. Further, another triangular network between the English colonies, West Indies, and Africa, led to the trade of numerous commodities including slaves, rum, sugar and molasses. From an economic standpoint, the increased demand for African slaves became integral to trade between the three nations fueling the growth of various trade networks.

Europe and Africa. The population decrease was not just due to slave trade which some African kings were said to have agreed to but Europeans would come into Africa and capture citizens forcefully. Historian Patrick Manning, makes the claim that “the coastal exports of young adult slaves, twice as many men as women, tended to transform the structure of the population and the organization of society”. Manning believes that if Europe didn’t take so much of the people of Africa, Africa could have been sufficient enough to support itself in advances. Walter Rodney, another historian that sides with Manning notes that “Europeans obtained slaves by trading rather than raiding” (Northrup, 89). The used violence, such as, warfare, trickery, banditry, and kidnapping to force these people out of there homes

For centuries, European nations had been trading slaves, gold, ivory, and more with the west coast of Africa. Throughout the early 1800s, Europeans barely knew anything about the rest of the country of Africa. This quickly changed as Europe grew a sudden interest in exploring the rest of the country and taking advantage of their many valuable resources. Many wonder what motivated Europeans to Imperialize Africa, or extend their country’s power throughout Africa. The driving forces behind European Imperialism in Africa were the strive for ultimate power in Africa between competing countries, the need for money and technological advancements in European civilizations, and the constant attempt for Europeans to spread their cultures throughout

In Africa, Europe, and Latin America, in the period 1300-1450 demonstrates the differences between a central and periphery states. The large empires that emerged in Africa demonstrates how complex and interconnected the region is to the world system. In Europe, trade dominated how the Italian Peninsula, the British Isles, and the Iberian Peninsula interacted with the continent, and also incorporated new systems that were unique to the development of the Modern World. While not connected to the Old World yet, the American

To further evaluate Europe and Africa one could look at the economic consequences of European colonialism in Africa. There are several consequences to this subject. The two that seem the most important was the transformation of individual colonies into export-oriented

In the late 15th and early 16th centuries, Portuguese pushed into the Atlantic World in search of laborers and luxury goods, both of which they found in West Africa (AW 54). Initially these “adventurers”, as they were called, would simply kidnap people for labor from the coasts (AW 58). However, after

As major European empires rose from the start of the 1400s and facilitated the rise and extensive growth of the transatlantic slave trade up until the mid-to-near end of the 19th century, Africa, especially the western areas, became a major hub within the European imperial economies, with that the Asian trade market, thus influencing, if not almost undoubtedly fostering, financial globalization and some pieces of globalization in cultural matters. With the Portuguese’s kick off of the transatlantic slave trade, a major connection to the global

Early in the 17th century, Portugal was the main European power interacting and trading with African economies. Further discovery peaked a Portuguese interest in African spices, textiles, gold and slaves. Similar to the original role it played in Southeast Asia, Portugal acted as the “truck driver” of the African markets by transporting goods and slaves between African port cities in addition to the trade between European and African markets. The interaction with the African communities had a deeper impact in comparison with the interaction between Portugal and Southeast Asia. As a desire for wealth and development invaded the minds of the Portuguese officials, it also spread to Africa by altering the culture, disrupting political establishments and creating a greater reliance on global interaction The culture changed as African businessmen began selling fellow Africans into the slave trade in order to maximize profits. The previously established political entities of Africa were traded for European-influenced governmental structures. Spiked by the industrial revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries, earlier African markets involving artisan-fare and small businesses were practically eliminated as production of large companies increased (Strayer 452-457). This trend of dominance continued to spread

The Portuguese empire possessed strong naval power by the 15th century, which enabled the empire to start looking abroad to expand their influences. By 1415, the Portuguese had begun their oceanic voyages in Africa. Their overall purpose was to obtain access to the African gold mines to expand their markets. As the trade progressed with the Africans, the Portuguese began trading copper, brass, and other local goods for gold. As a result, the Portuguese began establishing trade post all over Africa. Additionally, the Portuguese established trade post in the region of Liberia as they looked for gold to fuel their voyages to the new world.

Colonialism has been viewed and interpreted from multiple perspectives. Both the coloniser and the colonised are said to have benefitted therefrom. While on the one hand it is considered abject exploitation by the coloniser to fill his coffers, on the other, the routine by-products of colonisation were of absolute benefit to the colonised. The four century long period of colonisation that gripped the world is one of the most oft debated and scrutinized periods of human history. In the period beginning sixteenth century AD, trade and commerce through the sea route became a means of expanding markets in many countries. Great Britain, France, Belgium and Portugal were amongst the pioneers in taking their wares to countries far away, like Africa and Asia. One early form of colonialism that was thrust upon the colonised country was economic exploitation.

The first chapter in Boahen’s book is titled “Eve of Colonial Conquest” and this section gives the readers a background of the colonialism in Africa through a look at the fundamental economic, political, and social changes that occurred just a few decades before colonialism took root. Boahen states that the trade of “natural products” is the most significant economic change in Africa by 1880. Just before the trading of “natural products” slave trades were abolished.

A sailing school was established in Sagres which promoted more expeditions, which led to exploring multiple islands and made expansions of Portugal’s empire possible (Bamber, 2001, para 6). These islands (Madeira and Azores) were rich in sugar cane and vineyards (Bamber, 2001, para 6. The aim for Africa was to find gold and colonizing Africa for expanding the Portuguese empire.