West African History Research Paper

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.

When most think of Africa, they automatically think hot and dry. Africa's climate is hot in most places, however, due to elevation some places are much cooler than others. The diverse climates of Africa leads to a diverse economy. The distance from the equator, elevation and rainfall amounts all help to determine the economy of that particular geographic location, therefore some people engage in mining to make a living.

Africa is a place thriving with adventure. Across the land no matter where you go there will be a new sight to see and a new thing to experience. These wonderful opportunities are available due to the variety of intricate aspects that make up Africa. Africa’s diversity can be seen by its help in mankind’s early life, physical regions, wildlife, and the inhabitants.

Africa is the world's second largest continent in both area and population, only Aisa supersede Africa in this area. Approximately 11,670,000 square miles Africa make up roughly a fifth of the world's land area, Also with a population of 959 million people, with calculates to be a seventh of the world population(1).

For our final paper, we were to read Sundiate. This was my favorite book to read due to the fact that I have an interest in West African history. From reading this book we should know the historical context, who Songolon Kolonkan and Balla Fasseke are and what roles they play, what details show existence of long distance trade, what the universal religion is, and what we learned about West African history. The book really gave me a broad idea of what life would be like during that time. I can only imagine seeing thousands of traders coming into Mali with their camels and donkeys carrying what they had to trade.

The Atlantic Slave Trade affected the people of Africa with a steady decrease in population numbers more specifically an example being in Sub-Saharan Africa where in 1600 the region represented 16% of the world’s population yet by 1900 this percent was less than half of what it’d been. One factor seen as a more so probable cause of this decrease in population had been the consideration of Africa seen as a major source of slaves. With this, people of Africa were taken as slaves and torn from their native land to be transported across the Atlantic to work forcibly in mainly the Americas. With the Atlantic Slave Trade, larger, more powerful societies took over pre-existing small-scale kinship societies of Africa. One example of this being the

The religious ceremonies practiced within the African religion attempt to funnel cosmic energy or power for the betterment of the tribe. These ceremonies serve as a way for them to build strong relationships with other members of their community, the gods, their ancestors, and nature spirits. The shrines and altars they use generally are not a grandiose structure. Often they are not even a permanent structure, they can be a simple stone marker in someone’s yard.

Many people were taken from Africa to be shipped to the Caribbean. On average, only 40 percent of the people captured in Africa made it to the Caribbean. The others either died shortly after being captured or on the ships sailing to the Americas. Some were even left behind in Africa to be slaves. The number of people removed from Africa was often equivalent to the estimated annual population growth. Additionally, the youth were the most valuable group of people to be captured. As a result of this, Africa was deprived of many of the young people, especially men, who were supposed to be the future generation of their country. This stunted the growth of West Africa during one of the most important periods in history when other countries were beginning to build their wealth.

There is an ongoing debate on how the current political and economic failures in Africa can be traced back to the advent of colonialism. There is a great deal of evidence that illustrates the impact that colonialism and foreign intervention has had a negative effect on the development of present history of Africa. This essay will attempt to examine the geographic, political and ethnic impact European colonialism has played on the development of the African, and how these contributions have put Africa on its current trajectory.

This resulted in impoverishment and the dependency of developed, authoritative nations. Before the slave trade Africa was a thriving liberated nation with resources to supply the population without the need to trade with other countries. If Africa was a successful nation why did the Transatlantic Slave Trade even begin? Africa became a land where chiefs and authoritative figures sided with western countries taking advantage of vulnerable African citizens (in this case slaves). “In Africa, the trading groups could make no contribution to technological improvement because their role and preoccupation took their minds and energies away from production”. (Rodney, 1981) As Rodney suggests, the trade affected industrial development, skills and technology advancing. This effectively slowed the advancement of Africa effecting the population dramatically. The population of Western Africa also declined by 2 million from 1700 to 1850 because of the slave trade. These civilians could have been tradesmen and skilled workers who could have contributed to the progression of Africa’s future. Because of the slave trade, people took their chance to gain wealth, which lead to an “every man for themselves” legacy for

As this premature slave trade developed in the 15th century, African slaves began making and impact in the cultural diversity of many cities in Europe. At the end of the 15th century, enslaved Africans made up about 10% of popular cities in Western Europe. (Donnan) Since Southern Africans were considered inferior at this point of discovery, there wasn’t much they could do to defend themselves from these forms of exploitation. They were in such high demand that they were traded between all of Europe and Asia, as far as Russia and even traded within their native continent of Africa. Northern Muslim Africans were those that kept them as a commodity. Once the demand became so prominent, English and Dutch ships began accompanying Portugal’s voyages down the African coast. After the premature slave trade became more popular and Europe’s nominal economy was blooming, Spain decided to continue the development of Western imperialism by exploring across the Atlantic Ocean with the help of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus at the conclusion of the 15th century. This fueled the already dramatic trade of human cargo by creating trade routes, essentially, worldwide between North America, Europe, and Africa. These conquests created what

African’s were used for European colonists in the Americas who needed cheap labor and enslaved them to work on their plantations and farms. Although slavery has existed in Africa for centuries, there were a few striking occurrences that allowed slavery and slave trade to grow rapidly in it’s popularity. The spread of Islam, Muslim rulers, Portuguese dying by the millions, the labor of Spanish America, and England’s domination all contributed to the causes of African slave trade. African slavery during the Atlantic world period led to the economic and cultural development of the Americas and Africa.

Trade unintentionally strengthens and weakens the power of Africa. Axum is located in Africa the location is now known as northern Ethiopia, their economic foundation was a highly productive agriculture that used a plow-based farming system, unlike most of Africa, which relied on a hoe. They taxed their trade and it provided a major source of revenue for the Axumite state and the complex society that grew up within in it. The lack of potentials can make the region lack power and can result in collapsing societies. The more people can produce merchandise for their own good or to trade for better merchandise will help with growing power. Trade dilemmas will not only shape society in which they live in, but

I was told that slavery was a time period; where slaves were taken from Africa to the work on Plantations, and this is just what it was for centuries. Analyzing the textbook African people are strong people who for the most part did not go without a fight. African people resisted every chance they got. They did not accept slavery as their faiths. I also was unaware that freed slaves were able to travel freely. I thought that because they were African, regardless of freed or not that if they went into slave states they would become slaves. This challenged my ideas of what life was like during this time

There are many misconceptions about Africa’s past. However, Africa’s earliest people adapted to a wide range of geographic conditions to establish societies based on family ties, religion, iron technology, and trade. Today Africa is a continent made up of 54 independent countries, and it’s the world’s oldest populated area. Africa’s is more than three times the size of the United States, and over time there has been a great deal of trade and movement of goods and people including transatlantic slave trade. The following maps show the changing relationships of Africa to the rest of the world and provide a different historical interpretation then the many misconceptions most people have of