THE SLAVE TRADE AND THE ORIGINS OF MISTRUST IN AFRICA

Although all this documents stress voices from the Slave Trade, each document sheds a unique light on the much-debated question about who should be held responsible for the tragedy of the Atlantic slave trade. For example, Document 15.1 sheds light on the role of both European and African merchants in the trafficking of slaves as well as the human suffering of the slave trade. However Document 15.2 reveals the cooperation between local African rulers and European and African traders in the slave trade. Moreover, Documents 15.3 focus on how disruptive European traders could be to established African governments, even those that actively opposed the slave trade. And finally, Document 15.4 shows how some African leaders were attached to the slave trade and promoted it even when European were moving to end it. Nonetheless, all the documents do shed a clear and a full light on what should be held responsible for the

The economic problem relating to the increasing dependency on slavery is also related to the increasing demand of slave trade as a way to make profit (document 9). Slave trade is unreliable because of the fluctuating demands of slavery. English slave imports to American between 1600 and 1780 would gradually increase in the West Indies and Southern Mainland, but not at a constant rate (document 9). On the other hand, slave imports in the Mid-Atlantic and New England varied around 1,000 to 2,000 slaves from 1701 to 1780, which would drastically impact the profits of slave traders (document 9).

Nathan Nunn, author of the article “The Long-Term Effects of Africa’s Slave Trade” was interested in researching and determining how the slave trade had affected Africa’s economy in the subsequent years. Rather than taking a human rights approach, Nunn chose to focus on the economic approach and sets out to investigate how certain characteristics of the slave trade have affected the development of the society economically. To be more specific, Nunn states that his thesis statement is that the African slave trade was not only damaging to the society but that there was a correlation between the process of acquiring slaves and the negative impact in the economy in the following years. To demonstrate that he would be creating a relationship with

There are several consequences brought by the slave trading intensification. The exportation of slaves from Mozambique

The Atlantic slave trade was the largest and longest ongoing international voyage in human history. Taking place as early as the 1440’s, the slave trade gives valuable account for the trade in slaves from various parts of the world. The author gives a regulation from West Africa to as far as the Arabic region along southern parts of the Mediterranean Sea into a

Throughout history there have been many gruesome crimes committed. The records and information that have been written about African slavery are one of the top atrocious crimes in history. By 1820, four slaves had crossed the Atlantic for every European. Between 1525 and 1866, in the entire history of the slave trade to the New World, according to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database, 12.5 million Africans were shipped to the New World. Only, 10.7 million survived disembarking in North America, the Caribbean and South America. However before the Europeans had arrived to Africa there was already a slave trade in process. The Islamic slave trade accounts for nearly 9 million captured African slaves in the seventh century. A tragedy of such magnitudes has no equivalence in any other part of the world. The slave trade had far-reaching consequences on every group involved with it. Nowhere is this seen most than on the African continent, where developing nations were critically impacted in every level of society. The slave trade had a negative cultural impact on families, larger social groups and established nations which ultimately changed the dynamics of the African

When you think of the African slave trade, do you realize that over 10 million people were removed from that continent in less than 500 years? Some scholars believe it may be as large a number as 20 million.1 I would like to pose a few questions and attempt to answer them in this collection of writings and opinions. The evidence and historical documents will show some of the economic and social impacts the Slave Trade had on the African continent.

The black slave trade, the trading in human beings which linked Europe, Africa, and the America’s from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, sustained a colossal colonial machine based on the slavery system. (Schmidt) Around ten to twelve million African’s were forcefully taken to the New World to fulfill a labor shortage. These millions of African captives sold as slaves provided the labor required for the exploration of mines and plantations of sugar cane, tobacco, coffee, and cotton. (Schmidt)

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 slave trade wreaked havoc in Africa. For four centuries this continent was the scene of wars for the capture of slaves. Millions of Africans exported to the distant lands, millions more died in long marches to the coast and in the warehouses waiting to be shipped. The forced exodus of millions of people caused the decline of the vegetative growth of the African population, as men and women of childbearing age were sold.

When I think of the early modern era it’s very hard for me to not think of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Growing up as a black man in America it is instilled in me to search the history of my ancestors just to have a sense of who I am and why I am the way I am. Many changes occurred in the world during this time and the world today is a result of what took place in that time of history. In this paper I will explain the changes that impacted that time and how it may have negatively or positively affected the world.

Colonization created the system of slave trade, in order to help build the economic foundations of established colonies. However, doing so leaves the victims of this trade with a legacy of limited potential. For instance, past colonization has influenced disproportionate distributions of income in South Africa; the lowest on the continent. “Colonialism has left South Africa with a legacy of migrant labor, particularly among workers in the gold and diamond mine…” As a result, it guarantees that the majority of the black African population is stricken with poverty in contrast with the history of wealth and

Since the turn of the fifteenth century to around the mid to late nineteenth century, slavery had become the world’s largest international trade crime. The view of slavery has always been about one prospect for business, which is capitalizing on the use of cheap labor to increase bottom line profits. The slave trade was most prevalent in the United States, England and France each with their own form of immigration for new slaves. Even with the outlaw of slavery in America the mid nineteenth century by the end of the colonial period, nearly every fifth American had some type of ties to an African migrant slave. Nonetheless, the introduction of slavery into the United States was one of the major means of immigration for Africans into North America

It was responsible for the relocation of 12 million people and the death of thousands as they were forced into slave work. Aside from being a moral tragedy however, it was also responsible for the increase in productivity of many exporting goods, along with the employment of thousands involved in all parts of the slave trade. Daudin argues that England-Africa trade played a large role in the development of the colony and the primitive accumulation of capital before the industrial revolution (Daudin, 2004). This is evident from this paper’s analysis of the slave trade from the supply side; starting at its roots from the capture of the slave, to the final sale in the colonies. From this analysis, it is evident that the slave industry helped develop many entrepreneurs and was profitable, but with low individual rates of return and small overall profit

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