the slave trade
TRANSCRIPT
The Atlantic slave trade which began in the 15th century under the Spanish and
continued until its subsequent end in the 19th century became notorious as one of the
most profitable branches of trade in which each European country had sought to
snatch a profitable share for itself. For e.g. according to S. U. Abramova “Great
Britain, Holland and France were the leading slave – trading powers of the
time….even Denmark and Sweden built forts on the western coast of Africa to part
take in the slave trade.1
Africans had become the victims of the largest, most inhumane and barbaric
form of genocide ever known to mankind. According to Karl Marx “…Africa turned
into a warren for the commercial hunting of black-skins…” 2With the transport of
Africans across the Atlantic to enslavement in the New World many were brutally
murdered and tortured
However in an attempt to dignify this gross
abomination, its perpetrators of such atrocious crimes
sought to legitimize their actions by calling it a ‘trade’;
but arguably this activity “…was no trade, but a form of
exchange that was so un-equal as to be tantamount to
worse than robbery.” 3
What is trade? Trade can be defined as the voluntary exchange of one item for
another, one person or firm providing an item i.e. (good, service, asset, etc.) to
another person or firm, with the latter providing a different item to the first in return,
as payment. This transaction may take place between two parties (bilateral trade) or
amongst more than two parties (multilateral trade). In its original form trade
1 UNESCO. The African Slave Trade from the 15 th to the 19 th Century (1979) pp.18-192 DU BOIS, W.EB. The World and Africa (International Publishers NY, 1981) p.563 <http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php>
necessarily used barter and the exchange of commodities which recognized the equal
value desirable to both parties.4
Prior to the arrival of the Europeans the trade in slaves and slave markets was
not unknown to Sub-Saharan African societies. It was part of life in various kingdoms
as well as formed the social structures throughout history. Slavery in Africa was
viewed as servitude for repayment of debt, punishment for crime committed and
prisoners of war among tribes. Although this internal trade throughout its period was
in the millions, slaves consisted of just a small percentage of the population.5
This exchange was quite valuable since it was beneficial to all parties in that it
aided in the development of the societies involved. Slaves were usually sold for salt,
horses and luxury cloths. In return they would be used as servants for domestic
purposes in that an equal or greater number of females than males were taken, who
were often employed as chambermaids to women of harems; aided in strengthen
armies and it was also not uncommon to turn male slaves into eunuchs.6
Never before had the hunt for slaves been so systematic
nor had it been carried on solely for the sake of procuring
slaves. The Atlantic slave trade was considered by
European tradesmen as respectable as any branch of
trade, in that many boosted of their success in trading in
‘live merchandise’. For e.g. a fortunate voyage made a profit of £8,000, even a poor
cargo would make £5,000 and within a year a clear profit of £300,000.7 Apprised of
the golden earnings the shareholders had made from this first slaving voyage, even
Queen Elizabeth herself invested capital.4 Trade. Wikipedia <http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade >5 From the Ancient Sahara and Americas and Into the New World <http://bosp.kcc.hawaii.edu/Spectrums/Spectrum2001/slaves.html>6 African slave trade. Wikipedia <http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_slave_trade.html> 7 DU BOIS, W.EB. The World and Africa (International Publishers NY, 1981) p.55
Although there is no substantial data on the accurate number of slaves
supplied to the New World several historians based on their findings have given
substantial estimates. According to Curtin’s work, one of the most reliable scientific
data upon the slave trade claimed that from Senegal to Angola states sprung up or
were recreated from old states. Here it is estimated that they supplied approximately 8
million of black to be transported across the ocean;8 Whilst Hugh Thomas “The Slave
Trade: The History of the Atlantic Slave Trade, 1440-1870” claimed that the number
of Africans transported across the Atlantic were at approximately 11 million.
On the other hand, as mention above this traffic in human beings was not
necessarily a trade. This unfriendly activity was imposed upon African societies by
means of military terror. It was either they complied or face the wrought of the
European fire power. The existence of the many forts and castles, European
monuments to war, self defence, and plunder, forming a chain link across the West
African Coast, was evidence of their reign
of violent military might. For e.g. Many
African societies were drawn into the slave
system under duress; (Cape Coast Castle,
Gold Coast, (Ghana) 1948.)
As a result European decision-making power was exercised in selecting what
Africans should export- in accordance with European needs. In many instances
African people were simply the victims since the law i.e. European law recognized
them only as transportable merchandise. In addition the small size of African states
and the numerous political divisions also made it so much easier for Europe to play a
8 CURTIN, P. The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census (University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, 1969)
dominant role. According to Rodney “obviously if Europe could tell Africans what to
export, that was an expression of European power”.9
However, the goods intended for barter by European tradesmen ranged from
fire-arms, gun-lifts and gunpowder to glass beads, various metal ware, rum and cloth.
In return the African people exported the permanent wealth of gold and the valuable
labour of slaves. In hindsight, this arguably was an unequal exchange, but the same
sort of thing is still going on today. The countries of the North stop at nothing to
convince African heads of state to import white elephants in exchange for mediocre
personal profit.
According to Hennessy the European
tradesmen peddling their wares with deftness
and contempt had thereby created an artificial
market in which they supplied cheap
brassware and old clothes, faulty iron-bars,
cottons gewgaw and aged flintlocks that
frequently blew up on use. As a result Africans sold them their slaves, gold and ivory,
in return for trash. These items had no real value or assisted in the development of the
society.10 For e.g. European tradesmen unloaded on the African continent goods
which had become un-saleable in Europe in that lots of odds and ends found
guaranteed markets in Africa.11
In addition, Hugh Thomas also claims that gunpowder was often fraudulently
weighed by simple techniques such as adding a false head to the keg,; linen and cotton
cloths were often opened and two or three yards, according to the length of the piece, 9 RODNEY, W. How Europe underdeveloped Africa (Howard Univ. Press, Washington, D.C. 1982) p.77 10 HENNESSY, J. Sins of the Fathers, A Study of the Atlantic Slave Traders 1441-1807 (Ebenezer Baylis and Son Limited, Great Britain 1967) pp. 174-17511 RODNEY, W. How Europe underdeveloped Africa (Howard Univ. Press, Washington, D.C. 1982)p.77
they would cut off from out of the middle, where the fraud might not be noticed until
the cloth was unfolded; also a piece of wood might be placed inside to make up the
weight.12
Although the Europeans on a whole didn’t invade the continent, in attempt to
secure more slaves as possible from West Africa involuntarily, they compelled the
Africans to wage wars against other neighbouring states that otherwise would not
have been waged. For e.g. Davidson claims during the 18th century, Birmingham
alone was exporting some 10,000 muskets annually to West Africa
Here they used the Machiavellian policy of supplying musket to both sides of
the conflict as well as hardened the existing internal class divisions and created new
ones. Even inside a given community a ruler might be tempted to exploit his own
subjects and capture them for sale.13 For e.g. According to Rodney the small territory
that the Portuguese later claimed as “Guinea-Bissau”, there were more than a dozen
ethnic groups. It was so easy to set one off against another that Europeans called it a
‘slave trader’s paradise’.14
Another feature of this un-equal trade was that these European tradesmen
sought to involuntary capture slaves via kidnapping. According to Equiano a slave
from a region in Gambia and one of the very few who lived to describe his
experienced stated that “….One day, when all our people were gone out to their works as
usual, and only I and my dear sister were left to mind the house, two men and a woman got
over our walls, and in a moment seized us both; and, without giving us time to cry out, or
make resistance, they stopped our mouths, and ran off with us into the nearest wood”15
12 THOMAS, H. The slave trade: the history of the Atlantic slave trade ( Simon and Schuster, NY, 1997) p.39313 THORNTON, J. Africa and Africans in the making of the New World (Cambridge Univ. Press, NY 1992) p.9814 RODNEY, W. How Europe underdeveloped Africa (Howard Univ. Press, Washington, D.C. 1982) p.79 15 The Atlantic slave system <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASafrica.htm>
On the other hand, Europeans had traditionally viewed the African as less than
an equal human being, since blackness was a defining. Black was dirt, sinful, impure
whereas white meant beauty, virtue, and cleanliness. By European racist code and
conduct these Africans were barbaric by nature and, were not considered worthy of
having rights.
Although they were regarded as “chattels” or in other words as mere private
property, these commodities were harshly treated on board the ships and storage on
the coast in that they received no special care or attention. For e.g. according to
Hennessy animal would ever been treated like that. Thereby this challenges the idea
of legitimizing there activity as a “trade”, since the inhumane conditions surrounding
the delivery of this entire process was quite alarming. 16
Prior to the journey across the Atlantic to the
New World, these human merchandises were placed
into abominable conditions of dungeon
fortresses in the slave castles along the
coast, awaiting the arrival of the slave ships. Here they were kept
people in dark, dirty rooms with little to eat or drink and no room to
move and also at the barracoons they were chained and confined together by their
hands, ankles and sometimes their necks 17
Likewise upon this long and treacherous journey which has become known as
the ‘Middle Passage’, on board the ships these slaves suffered seriously from the
conditions since it’s estimated that many as 20% died while crossing the Atlantic
Ocean.
16 UNESCO The African Slave Trade from the 15 th to the 19 th Century (1979) p.3517 THOMAS, H. The slave trade: the history of the Atlantic slave trade ( Simon and Schuster, NY, 1997) pp.390-392
According to Munford these slavers transported approximately
400 to 500 slaves for a period of three to four months. Most ships,
especially those of the later 18th century, which were "tight
packers", slaves whether sick or dying were often kept in chains
and left to lie on their backs in the dark in spaces smaller than that
of a grave, or in some cases stacked spoon-fashion on top of one another throughout
the endless journey. I 18
Portholes when kept shut in rough weather,
transformed the hold into ‘an airless hell’. But according
to Hennessy excessive heat was not the only thing that
rendered their situation intolerable. The deck that is the
floor of their rooms, was so covered with the blood and
mucous which had proceeded from them in consequence
of the flux, that it resembled a slaughter-house. 19
In attempt to keep the slaves in acceptable physical condition if they were to
be sold at high prices the captain allowed the slaves on deck, in order to give them
exercise. Still shackled together the men were forced to jump up and down until often
these abrasive chains smashing and crashing against one another tore the flesh of their
ankles. 20
Thereby the horror of middle passage represents the paramount of human
mistreatment and suffering. This dreadful so –called ‘trade’ also represents Africans
18 MUNFORD, C. The Black Ordeal of Slavery and Slave Trading in the French West Indies 1625-
1715 Vol. II (Edwin Mellen Press Ltd, NY 1991) pp.298 - 29919 HENNESSY, J. Sins of the Fathers, A Study of the Atlantic Slave Traders 1441-1807 (Ebenezer Baylis and Son Limited, Great Britain 1967) pp. 174-175
20 MUNFORD, C. The Black Ordeal of Slavery and Slave Trading in the French West Indies 1625-
1715 Vol. II (Edwin Mellen Press Ltd, NY 1991)p.305
having all their humanity being stripped away and contributing to the most vicious
genocide known to the world.
In conclusion, the Atlantic slave trade was not necessarily a trade since the
traffic in human beings were carried out in the inhumane conditions known to
mankind as well as it required both parties involved i.e. the European and more so the
Africans to voluntarily comply with the transactions and most often the value of the
goods exchanged were of un-equal weighting.