Effects Of Atlantic Slave Trade

Everyone has their own understanding of what slavery is, but there are misconceptions about the history of “slavery”. Not many people understand how the slave trade initially began. Originally Africa had “slaves” but they were servants or serfs, sometimes these people could be part of the master’s family. They could own land, rise to positions of power, and even purchase their freedom. This changed when white captains came to Africa and offered weapons, rum, and manufactured goods for people. African kings and merchants gave away the criminals, debtors, and prisoner from rival tribes. The demand for cheap labor was increasing, this resulted in the forced migration of over ten million slaves. The Atlantic Slave Trade occurred from 1500 to 1880 CE. This large-scale event changed the economy and histories of many places. The Atlantic Slave Trade held a great amount of significance in the development of America. Africans shaped America by building a solid foundation for the country.

European countries had lacked many resources like food, clothing, and technology. The products that were coming to them from Asia were attracting more and more Europeans. Therefore, to have more profit from trade, the Europeans wanted to avoid the Muslim intermediaries and have direct access to the trading destinations such as India, China, and Africa. When the countries from Europe sent explorers to find new lands, they had sent them fully equipped with fleet of ships, gold, and food. Whenever these explorers had discovered there intended destination, they would take over the harbor and create a trade post.

In the course of the fifteenth century, the Portuguese developed the caravel, a small, light, three-masted sailing ship. Though somewhat slower than the galley, the caravel held more cargo and was highly maneuverable. When fitted with a cannon, it could dominate larger vessels, such as the round ships commonly used in commerce (Buckler 501-502). With the caravel, the Portuguese had the advantage over other ships in trade and were able to reach new parts of the world. The utilization of cannons and their compatibility with ships also gave Europeans a distinct advantage at sea. Although cannons posed serious technical difficulties for land warfare, they could be used at sea. The mounting of cannon on ships and improved techniques of shipbuilding gave impetus to European expansion (Buckler 501). The use of cannons eliminated many of the dangers that explorers without cannons might have, such as pirates or warships of hostile countries. But the technological advancements used in European exploration expanded far beyond weaponry. Instruments such as the compass and the nocturnal were essential in voyages. In fact, Christopher Columbus’s successful thirty-three-day voyage to the Caribbean owed a great deal to his seamanship and his knowledge and skillful use of instruments (Buckler 506). Even skilled sailors like Columbus needed the advancements in technology to be fully

In time, there seems to be no such thing as an end to slavery. In the era of 1450 to 1750 the Americans and Oceania joined the Eurasia in networks and exchange. This is where truly Global history begins. The new encounters between the Americas and Europe had a profound effect on economic, social, political, and demographic. As well as environmental effects on both sides of the Atlantic that quickly affected the world.

Between the years 1492 through 1750 a new world was discovered that was before unknown to the eastern hemisphere. New contacts were formed in the Atlantic world due to the discovery and colonization of the Americas and later African slave trade, which were both very major events of this time. These interactions mainly affected Western Europe, Africa, and the Americas, whose economies were broadened and social structures further developed and altered as a result.

Many of the resources that in the Indian Ocean trade route where very difficult to produce or couldn’t be found in Europe. With the scarcity of these products, many European merchants had to pay in order to get what they wanted. This led to an outflow of cash that affected the economy in a negative way. In order to make back, their losses, many European countries began to colonize parts of the world. This was in direct response to not be able to produce their own resources. Colonization allowed the Europeans to compete with the countries located along the silk road and the Indian Ocean. Europeans were very interested in the Asian spices. Joint-stock companies such as the Dutch East India Company divided the cost among investors. These funded explorations led to the discovery of new territories and opened up new opportunities for trade among other countries.

People living the the 15th century had multiple reasons for venturing beyond its confinement of land. Scientific curiosity of the world played a major part in the advancement of naval travel, but it was not the main cause of exploration in these times. The Age of Exploration was sparked by Europeans wanting to find sea routes to East Asia, which they called the Indies. Merchants and crusaders were bringing goods to Europe from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. These trade routes were controlled by the Muslims and the Italians. However, flaws

In the midst of the mid fifteenth century, the Portuguese were experiencing a cut off from trade by the Mediterranean to Asia, which in result caused the Portuguese explore for new trade in the world. Specifically the Portuguese were in search of gold and slaves for which lead them to Africa. The Portuguese began to trade with the African tribe

The changes in African life during the slave trade era form an important element in the economic and technological development of Africa. Although the Atlantic slave trade had a negative effect on both the economy and technology, it is important to understand that slavery was not a new concept to Africa. In fact, internal slavery existed in Africa for many years. Slaves included war captives, the kidnapped, adulterers, and other criminals and outcasts. However, the number of persons held in slavery in Africa, was very small, since no economic or social system had developed for exploiting them (Manning 97). The new system-Atlantic slave trade-became quite different from the early African slavery. The

The Atlantic Slave Trade involved the forced intercontinental migration of West Africans across the Middle Passage during the 17th to 19th centuries. Between twelve and fifteen million slaves were exchanged between Africa, Europe and the Americas, together with raw materials and manufactured goods.

In today’s world it is widely know and accepted that money makes the world go round but, unfortunately that is not the question. The question is: what made the world go round in the early 1600’s? Surprisingly, just like the world today money made the world go around back then also. One major difference is that in today’s world machines do all of our dirty work, back then it was all up to the slaves. Finding the perfect slave was a challenge to the colonists. First, there was the indentured servants, second, came the Indians. However because Indians and indentured servants could escape to freedom with ease, they were not the ideal slaves. The colonists’ third attempt proved to be a gold mine. The unfortunate people who were forced in to

Trade was the first motive for European exploration. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the Italians and Muslims had control of the Mediterranean. Because of this, countries such as Portugal lacked access to Asian trade routes, since they lacked the resources to break through “the Italian dominated trade of the Mediterranean” (Arnold 4) Such countries were forced to explore and expand in order to find new routes around the world to reach Asia, causing them to search for goods and trade beyond their borders, acquiring land and resources along the way, which in turn expanded European trade and economy. Another factor was Europe's search for new trade. European merchants discovered that they could no longer sell their merchandise in Asia and Africa, as many of their products were deemed inferior to their African and Asian counterparts. They attempted to sell “crude woollen cloth in Asian markets accustomed to fine silks and calicoes” (Arnold 3) The Europeans needed a new market, motivating them to send explorers such as

The Atlantic Slave Trade was a part of African history that had made one of it's biggest impact on Africa's relation with the world and more importantly on the inner workings of the country itself due to its large-scale involvement of many of the people in the continent. Although the slave trade was so long ago the impact can still be seen in Africa's social workings within the people, its economy in the local and global market, and within the political landscape of the countries.

The Atlantic slave trade existed from the 16th to the early 19th century and stimulated trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Over 12 million Africans were captured and sold into chattel slavery off the coast of West Africa, and more than 2 million of them died crossing the Atlantic. These outcomes of the slave trade are rarely disputed among historians; the effect of the Atlantic slave trade in Africa, however, is often a topic of debate. Some academics, such as Walter Rodney, insist that Africans were forced to take part in the slave trade, resulting in demographic disruption and underdevelopment in all sectors of Africa. Historian John Thornton acknowledges the negative consequences of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, yet contends that it was merely an expansion of the existing internal slave trade which African rulers engaged in willingly. A final case made by Hugh Thomas completely contradicts Rodney’s thesis, asserting that the slave trade was not solely responsible for decreasing Africa’s population, and furthermore, that it was primarily beneficial to Africa’s economy and politics. The true outcome of the slave trade in Africa lies not entirely in any one of these arguments, but rests rather in a combination of all three. Although the Atlantic slave trade was detrimental to the economic and social development of Africa, the trade benefited a small portion of Africans, who willingly aligned themselves with

India also traded gold, silver and jewels. Several countries wanted these various types of riches. Before the new route to India was discovered all these products were coming back to Europe through one single trade route,however, this trade route had only one way to travel from Europe to India was over land. This was a very long and expensive route. When Vasco Da Gama discovered the trade route from Asia to Europe it effected several countries. He become rich and benefited the creation of the primary European trading empire. Vasco Da Gama influenced the society in trade . Only portuguese ships and Portuguese merchants in Europe could sell spices,gold and cloth produced in India and that is how Portugal became the center of sea trade and controlled the sea route between Asia and