African Slaves The Side Of African History

It's an unfortunate fact that a major part of African history concerns the slave trade era, when African slaves were taken from their homes to be slaves in other parts of the world.

The transatlantic slave trade period began when it became clear that Europe's burgeoning New World colonies would require a large workforce. The European colonists soon discovered that large numbers of African slaves would be perfect. Familiar with agricultural principals as well as cattle management, the Africans brought over were also accustomed to working in tropical climates. From the 15th century on, African people were captured and brought to the Americas to work in the mines or on the large farms and plantations that were being established there.

But the idea of using African slaves was not new, even back then. African slavery had existed for centuries, and it wasn't just the idea of European colonists. In fact, from between about -1450 and the end of the -1800s, slave traders enjoyed the full cooperation of African rulers and merchants. They were willing participants in the selling of African slaves.

The transatlantic slave trade operated a bit differently than many people think. It was an integral part of what was known as the "Triangular Trade," a very profitable three-step practice. The Triangular Trade's first step involved the importation of European manufactured goods into Africa. European metal goods, beads, tobacco and other goods were brought into Africa, then traded for African slaves. Even guns were involved, because they helped the Europeans expand their empires and catch more slaves. That particular practice backfired later, when the guns were turned against their former European owners.

After the slaves were captured they were shipped to the Americas in the second stage of the Triangular Trade. The last step of this profitable practice involved the shipment to Europe of precious metals and other products produced through slave labor. These goods included gold, silver, cotton, tobacco, molasses and sugar. When the transatlantic African slave trade began, the slaves were captured in Senegambia and Africa's Windward Coast, but slaves soon began to come from West Central Africa, in Angola and the Congo.


Portugal was the first European country to trade in African slaves, and it was also the last to abolish slavery. Although Portugal was the only country involved in the slave trade between -1440 and about 1640, other colonial empires eventually jumped in. Britain became the largest slave-trading country during the peak of the transatlantic slave trade. During this tragic era in African history, Britain alone transported 2.5 million African slaves out of the roughly 6 million total.

African slaves endured horrific conditions during the transportation process. Forced marches through Africa and squalid shipboard conditions caused an estimated -13% of all African slaves to die before reaching their intended destinations. Those that survived were shipped to the Caribbean, the Spanish Empire and Portugal's Brazil. Less than 5% were sent to North America.

The effects of slavery are still felt today. Descendants of African slaves are scattered throughout the world because that's where their ancestors were forcibly taken. African-American author and activist Maulana Karenga described the slave trade and its effects as "the morally monstrous destruction of human possibility ... poisoning past, present and future relations with others who only know us through this stereotyping and thus damaging the truly human relationships among people of today." In fact, he said, African slavery didn't destroy just the people who lived through that period of African history, it destroyed their language, their culture, and their religion, and it destroyed the very essence of "human possibility.