How Did The Atlantic Slave Trade Affect West Africa

This goes to show the gravity of impact the population loss had or still has on West Africa. In Walter Rodney’s ‘How Europe Underdeveloped Africa’ he states that “The massive loss to the African labour force was made more critical because it was composed of able-bodied young men and young women. Slave buyers preferred their victims between the ages of 15 and 35, and preferably in the early twenties; the sex ratio being about two men to one woman.” The people, or lack thereof, of West Africa found it very difficult to replenish the population, not to mention the interruption of the family structure in this part of Africa. Like most cultures, in African culture the men are the head of the household and were the chiefs of the various villages. In the absence of these men, many women found it very difficult to survive having lived as housewives and depending on men as the bread winners of the household. As a result, thre was social chaos in the Western part of Africa.

The Atlantic Slave Trade’s impact to the social workings of Africa were one not only in the personal connections of the people but in the culture as well. During this trade many in Africa were left in states of fear of being taken feeling unsafe in even their own land. Another one of the effects the Atlantic Slave Trade had on the social construct of Africa is in how their history and cultural identity resulted in the aftermath. Through the slave trade, Africans were removed from their homes at a young age disallowing them from learning from their elders about their own culture. Even if that culture was taught to them before hand, those captured would have been forced to assimilate into their new environment losing that culture and history they once had. The Atlantic Slave Trade had also brought on a popularity in the use of domestic slaves used by upper class within Africa which brought on another on set of issues particularly in Western and Central Africa. Because of several raids occurring to

Africa had been the target of colonialism and slavery for many years. The colonies that European’s developed during fifteenth and sixteenth century were the main reason that started slave trade in Africa.

Slavery had been practiced in Europe and the Caribbean. This being said, it did not exist in the English mainland colonies because there was no shortage of labor. In the 1670s and 1680s the Chesapeake economy depended on tobacco which required a large labor supply. At the same time, fewer and fewer men and women were willing to become indentured servants for a variety of reasons. The tobacco planters found the answer to this shortage in the slave trade. In the years between 1492 and 1770 more Africans than Europeans came to the Americas. Most were imported as slaves to Brazil and the Caribbean and only about 260,000 came to the region that would later become the United States. The slave trade was part of the Atlantic economic system, which is often referred to as the triangular trade. Triangular Trade was a system in which slaves, crops, and manufactured goods were traded between Africa, the Caribbean, and the American colonies. The future of Europe, Africa, South America and, North America were now bound together in the triangular trade and Atlantic economic system that would affect millions of lives over the centuries.The traffic in enslaved people served as an essential part of the triangular trade system. Europeans purchased slaves from Africa and then sold them in their colonies in America. The slave trade also had political and economic consequences for the people of West Africa. For example it created the powerful kingdoms of Dahomey, as it changed traditional economics. Goods now were imported to the coast instead of the Mediterranean. It also affected the population of West Africa unevenly. The slave trade left a shortage of men able to work in areas such as the Gold Coast. This resulted in new opportunities for women and encouraged polygamy. Despite the slave trade economic

Africa was once a thriving and wonderful continent filled with luxurious and wealthy kingdoms, but that had all changed when a new and appalling type of slavery was introduced. Around the 18th century, Africa became an ideal place for Europeans to trade and buy slaves from. The slave trade in Africa seemed to be manageable and somewhat peaceful before the Europeans brought in a new type of slavery. When the Europeans bought slaves from Africans, they kept them as slaves for life which were very different from how long slaves were kept in Africa. Europeans kept slaves in extremely poor conditions and treated them as if they were less than human. These actions caused a great spike in the slave trade all over the world and many

Europeans began to export slaves out of Africa and eventually into the Americas through Triangular trade. This put Africa on the map economically, but this economy began to disrupt their society. Different tribes began to start wars over obtaining slaves to trade for European goods. Eventually slave trade also led to a decrease in population in Africa, which caused a loss in potential for growth and as a result weakened African civilizations. Many regions were left dominated by females because of the demand for male slaves. This disrupted the previous traditional African family structure. The Europeans also took it upon themselves to impose Christianity on the Africans, who formerly practiced many different religions based on their

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

The trade left a legacy of social, economic and political problems with Africa affecting the country in the most negative of ways. Although the short term consequences presented huge wealth and economic benefits to the wealthy, the long term consequences implemented huge misery for millions of people at that time. Overall the human cost was far greater than the economic benefit it produced and has ultimately left a negative impact on Africa.

The family structure and organization in rural Africa was very different from that of the enslave ones in the plantation society of America. In Africa they were allowed to keep many wives and it was very legal. As, Venture Smith, a slave from Dukandarra in Guinea stated, “My father had three wives. Polygamy want notuncommon….” (170-171). The Africans also had several children with the wives and the family was very closed-nit. However when the Africans were captured by the Europeans and brought to America, it caused disruptions in the family structure. After their arrival, there was a separation of husbands from wives, mothers from children, and sister and brothers and forced in to servitude on plantations. Slaves were not allowed to marry but they were

The continent experienced the loss of a large part of its able-bodied population, which played a part in the social and political weakening of its societies that left it open to colonial domination and exploitation. In the nineteenth century, the flow of slaves began to slow due to the British Slave Trade Act of 1807, which banned imports of slaves into British colonies, and the British Slavery Abolition Act of 1837, which abolished any use of slave labor within the British colonies (Nunn & Qiann, 2010).

The later generations of Africans had become slaves and abused physically and mentally because the 19th and 20th centuries made it okay to think of Africans as inferior beings compared to the Europeans. Still today, many African countries suffer because they didn’t have a chance to advance themselves from when Europeans came took the resources they needed and left. In countries like the United States of America, Africans were used as slaves till 1865 and even now hate crimes and racist remarks are happening to them even if it isn’t as frequent as before. Many hate crimes against African people now can be connected to the colonization of Africa because most of the racist beliefs and jokes started here when the Europeans deemed them as barbaric, childlike, and not very educated. This time period is also when the whole superior race belief started to come into view. Though much has changed and improved, like African people having rights, being able to choose careers they want, work for pay, vote and do anything other races can do there is much more room for improvement. Although not everyone in Africa is poor, they still have a lot that are and we can fix that by building more jobs and schools so that kids can get an education to move up in life. The Europeans going to Africa was not a very good thing to happen to African people because it left many countries to the problems that they face

Depopulation was another negative impact that slavery had on Arica. This affected the African culture because the people who were stolen may have fulfilled many societal roles in the community. Africa lost many young strong people who could have been potential traders, philosophers, and skilled laborers. This led to an economic and cultural depletion to the regions. This also slowed the growth of existing populations and halted the development of nations. The younger, stronger people were the highly chosen ones to be taken for enslavement. The opportunities they may have had to raise children of their own within their own culture damaged cultural perpetuation. The trauma of losing young family members, people removed from the social frameworks

The African Slave Trade has affected a very large part of the world. This phenomenon has been described in many different ways, such as slave trade, forced migration and genocide. When people today think of slavery, many envision the form in which it existed in the United States before the American Civil War (1861-1865): one racially identifiable group owning and exploiting another. However, in other parts of the world, slavery has taken many different forms. In Africa, many societies recognized slaves merely as property, but others saw them as dependents whom, eventually might be integrated into the families of slave owners. Still other societies allowed slaves to attain positions of military or administrative power. Most often, both

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

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