Slave Trade in and Between Essay

Discussion

The focus of this work has been to answer the questions of: (1) How was the slave trade practiced in Europe and Africa before 1550, in comparison to the slave trade in and between the two regions after 1550?' And (2) 'What were the main differences between the two periods in terms of their origins, motivations and effects on African society?'

These two time periods, before 1550 and after 1550 have been shown in this work to have been quite different quite simply due to the fact that prior to 1550 slaves were sold to the 'Old World' of Europe however, following approximately 1550, the slave trade business was concentrated on selling slaves to the 'New World' or that of the American continent from which arose an accelerated need and increase in the demand for slaves.

Another factor influencing the slave trade business was that African slave traders began to realize that their involvement in the slave trade business would make them wealthy and this would provide them with power over their rivals in Africa. The African rulers began welcoming the Europeans in the beginning due to the import goods that they could trade slaves to receive which included luxury commodities such as tobacco, textiles, liquor and other products including firearms. Firearms provided them with a way to fight against their rivals and capture individuals to be sold as slaves. Those captured by other Africans and sold as slaves generally were individuals from the interior parts of Africa who were then transported to the coast and placed in holding cells awaiting their sale to the Europeans.

Summary and Conclusion

As this work has demonstrated the slave trade business was alive and well in Europe prior to 1550 and it was a business that involved risks and profits for those involved. Slave trade by Europe with and in Africa began in approximately 1441 with the Portuguese discovery of African people and at first was a business of kidnapping and simply 'taking' of individuals to sell into slavery. However, as the African kings realized the profits that they could make selling Africans into slavery, the slave trade business grew however, in approximately 1550 when a demand for slaves began on the American continent the slave trade business exploded and whereas slaves had previously been acquired and sold into the 'Old World' or that of Europe which historically had utilized slave labor for the harder and more menial tasks and work the European slave trade business began concentrating on shipping slaves to the American continent and the per annum shipment of slaves grew from 13,000 per annum to 135,000 per annum representing a great increase in shipment of slaves.

Many of the slaves who were shipped across the Atlantic died from diseases or simply from the journey and estimations given in some of the works reviewed state that approximately fifty percent of those sold into slavery did not survive what was called the 'Middle Passage' across the Atlantic Ocean. This work has noted that the involvement of Africans in the slave trade business was great indeed evidenced by the forts and castles that were used to house those captured to be sold into slavery by the African kings and rulers.

Bibliography

Bailey, Ann Caroline. African voices of the Atlantic slave trade: beyond the silence and the shame. Beacon Press, 2005

Petre-Grenouilleau, Oliver. From slave trade to empire: Europe and the colonization of Black Africa, 1780s-1880s. Routledge, 2004.

Sesay, Amudu. Africa and Europe: from partition to interdependence or dependence? Routledge, 1986.

Emmer, P.C. The Dutch…