Africa &

the Age of the Atlantic Slave Trade

Chapter 20

pg. 432-454

the Sudan(savannas of W. Af)

Swahili Coast (E. Africa)

Asante Dahomey

Kongo

Hausa & Yoruba

The Atlantic Slave Trade• Portugal established pattern

mirrored by other Europeans– Factories

• First contact based on mutually beneficial trade of goods

• Atlantic slave trade result of historical progression

Trend Toward Expansion• 12 million Africans shipped on

Middle Passage b/t 1450-1850– 1700s great age of Atlantic slavery

• Sugar = impetus for expansion– Brazil, Caribbean– Demographics perpetuates trade

Demographic Patterns• Male slaves preferred in Atlantic

• Female slaves preferred in Africa & Middle East

• Trade’s impact on population hotly debated

Organization of the Trade• Control reflected situation in Europe

• European mortality & complex routes of trade prevented domination by either side

• Triangle Trade

African Societies

How did the Atlantic slave trade change earlier slave patterns already inherent in African society?

Slaving & African Politics• Expansion of states & slaving wars

both a cause & result of Atlantic trade – Slaving societies vs. Slaved societies

• Role of the gun ↔ slave cycle

Asante & Dahomey• Political & cultural development

parallel Europe’s in many ways• Yet economies became increasingly

dominated by slave trade

ex:

↳Asante

↳Dahomey

East Africa & the SudanE. Af• Area of competing interests:

African, Middle Eastern, European– luxury items & slaves still largely for

Middle Eastern markets

Sudan• Renewed Islamization further

changed culture & intensified slavery

South Africa• Little affected by slave trade

Whites• Competitive climate for land

– Bantu farmers in interior, Dutch Boers/Afrikaners create coastal outpost but pushed to interior by British colonists

Africans (Mfecane & Zulu)• Shaka Zulu organized militarized tribal expansion

that either unified or destroyed rivals– Clashed w/ Portuguese to East & Boers/British to South– Established patterns b/t Af & Europeans

The African Diaspora• Diaspora =

• Slavery became vehicle for globalized Africa

Slave Lives• destruction of village → march to

coast → loaded on ships → Middle Passage

Africans in the Americas• African slaves performed all jobs, but

agriculture dominated

• In places, slaves outnumbered whites creating fear & tighter controls

American Slave Societies• Slaveholders racially organized society

– Whites– American-born & Mulatto slaves– African-born slaves

• slaves organized society by ethnicity

• African-born slaves were larger part of population in Latin America, thus had greater influence

People & Gods in Exile• African culture remained important

although fused with other beliefs

– Religion

• Resistance more common in Latin America than N. America

End of Slave Trade & Abolition• Abolition movements come from

outside forces (Enlightenment)

• Economic self-interest was not major force ending slave trade

– 1807: slave trade abolished– 1888: world slavery abolished

Global Connections• Africa enters the world economy, for

better or worse

• Africa forced to adapt in ways that weakened it & aided colonization

• Legacy of the slave trade lingers long after slavery was abolished