THE SLAVE TRADE AND THE ORIGINS OF MISTRUST IN AFRICA

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 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

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 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 The evidence and historical documents will show some of the economic and social impacts the Slave Trade had on the African continent.

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

“The African slave trade,” writes Gary B. Nash “is one of the most important phenomena in the history of the modern world.” The slave trade started in the late fifteenth century and prolonged for the next 400 years. Over those 400 years, approximately ten million Africans sailed across the Atlantic to America against their will. Shown in Red, White, and Black; The Peoples of Early North America, psychological, geographical and political factors affected the lives of slaves in early America; the masters subjugated the slaves through those means. In other parts of the Americas, as well as in the colonies, the slaves’ living conditions differed.

The Atlantic slave trade lasted from the 15th to 18th century. Between 10 and 12 million slaves were moved from Africa to South America. About 15 percent died and the ones who survived were sold as property. Only five percent of the slaves went to America (Green, 2012). The slaves were used to make sugar, tobacco and coffee (Slave Trade:, 2007). None of these things were good for us other than for desire, but nothing to sustain human life. Africans were captured by other Africans and traded for goods like metal tool and guns. Slaves were the source for private wealth and were viewed as an economic commodity. They were sold like cattle and branded on their cheeks. The slaves performed all kinds of labor from agricultural labors and house work. The slaves would work 48 hours straight at times. 23 years was the average life expectancy of slaves. The slave owners suddenly got a bright idea that if they kept their saves healthy enough, they could reproduce and in return make babies that would later be sold to become slaves. Slavery was defined as the permanent, violent, and personal domination of naturally alienation and generally dishonored persons. They were removed from their culture and dehumanized and suffered from social death. In this paper, I will discuss the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade, how it took place and how is has influenced our culture today.

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

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

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)

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

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.

Slavery is what built the Roman Empire, a civilization which shaped and still shapes human ideology today. According to Green, “From 1500 to 1880 CE, somewhere between 10 and 12 million African slaves were forcibly moved,” (“The Atlantic Slave Trade”). This was due to the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade, one of many trade routes that transported slaves inhumanely. Slavery is a definite crime towards humanity, but it is what cause economic growth in different regions and helped them in expansion. America’s cotton plantation, indigo, tobacco, and rice business thrived along with South America’s sugar businesses (“How Slavery Helped Build a World Economy,” Dodson). Consequently, this growth in economy increased trade with other areas, especially Europe. The labor of slaves laid the foundation of the industrial revolution, and influenced the expansion and interconnection of

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