THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE
In John Iliffe’s book ‘ Africans: The History of a continent’, he acknowledges the significance of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade along the course of Africa’s history and its impact in the overall dynamic shift in the forms of political and social organizations; the trade stimulated new forms of political and social organization (Iliffe p.131). The view taken by Iliffe was that its effects on African societies were extensive and complex. He a testifies to the brutality of the slave owners and their collaborators within the continent and the human resilience and courage shown by African slaves during those dark times.
To begin to understand the impact of Trans-Atlantic slave trade on the history of African, we must first look at its origin and how it was carried out.
Origin of the Trans- Atlantic Trade
The beginning of slave trade arose from the need of more and more labor within the expanding European empires in the New World. It took place across the Atlantic Ocean from the 16th century throughout to the 19th century with Portugal being the first country to engage in the trade. The British, French, Spaniards, Denmark and Americans then followed suit. The majority of the slaves sold to Europeans were sourced from the central and western part of the African continent with these heinous acts being perpetrated by African leaders. They then sell them to the slave traders who then transported them to the colonies in the north and South America. They were sold in the market place as Apprentices of life among other goods and services. By mid-seventeenth century the trade had completely taken root and even the slaves and their off springs were decreed as property of their masters.
Organization of the Trade
The Trans-Atlantic trade also known as the Triangular Trade was divided into three major stages. It begun with the transportation of manufactured goods such as cloths, cowrie shells, guns, spirit, tobacco, metal and beads from Europe to the African coast.
The second stage involved sourcing and shipping of the slaves from the African coast to the Americans. During the beginning of the slave trade, slaves were initially sourced from Senegambia and the Windward coast. However, as the trade progressed, it moved to the West-Central Africa; i.e. the Kingdom of the Kongo and neighboring Angola. Slaves along the west-coast were obtained by two means. This was either by the assistance and full co-operation of African Kings and merchants or by the occasional military campaigns organized by European to capture slaves. Once the slaves were obtained they were then shipped to the Americans.
The third and final stage of the trade involved the return to Europe with goods produced from the Slave-labor plantations in the Americas such as cotton, sugar, tobacco, molasses and rum.
As shown in above, all the three stages proved to be lucrative and profitable to the European merchants thus ensuring the continued flourishing of the trade.
Effects and Of the Trans-Atlantic Trade
The Trans-Atlantic trade had various effects on the African societies. Some of this were positive while the others negative.
Some of the positive effects that arose from the Trans-Atlantic slave trade were; the trade opened up African to the rest of the world which lead to various advancements in different areas, such as the area of medicine whereby the Portuguese brought with them penicillin which is used to cure malaria, one of the tropical diseases that plagued the region. The exposure to other parts of the world led to westernization of the region thus moving the region away from the backwardness of the primitive world and towards the industrialized period of the New world.
While there were some positive effects of the trans-Atlantic trade, the negative effects far outweighed the positive effects. These generally revolve around the following general areas poverty, human brutality and hostility, erosion of culture among others.
Poverty in the African continent arose steadily during this period. This was due to the fact that majority of slaves captured were men who were able-bodied individuals thus leaving the majority of the population left consisting of women, children and the old. This kind of population proved not to be productive thus leading to poverty in the region.
During this time human brutality and civil wars increased rapidly because of the slave trade. The Europeans encouraged these heinous practices by enticing African leaders with their manufactured goods in exchange for slaves who mainly consisted of prisoners of war and criminals. As the trade progressed, the Africans themselves had begun keeping some slave for themselves to work as domestic workers thus increasing the occurrences of these brutal acts even within the continent.
While cultural erosion can be viewed as two sided. It was negative in that, those who were taken lost touch with their cultural background and so did their off springs. Thus leading to cultural erosion. However, the fact that most of the slave trade occurred away from the African coast, led to the political and social institutions remaining largely intact.
Conclusion
Thus having gone through the overview of The Trans-Atlantic trade, we can conclude that it had a majority of effects on the African west coast not to mention the impact it had on the demography along the region. According to the information gathered on the trade, the significance of the trade in Africa’s history cannot be ignored. In my opinion the effects of trade were largely negative and their impact was felt throughout most Africa over a long period of time.
I do agree with John ILiffe that the acts committed during this period were brutal and cruel to say the least. They are a testimony of the brutality of human beings towards fellow beings in the name of prosperity and greed. And we should seek to learn from it and not go back to such times.
Also the overview of the Trans-Atlantic trade not only shows the suffering of Africans at the hands of others, but also shows the resiliency of Africa as a people and their capacity to overcome their numerous challenges they faced. We can be able to look back and celebrate and appreciate our forefathers for the numerous hurdles they have overcome for us to be where we are today. The splendor of Africa lay in its suffering (Iliffe)
Reference
Iliffe, John. “Africans: The History of a Continent”.
Chapter 7: Atlantic Slave Trade p.131-163
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
2007. Print
