TOPIC 14: THE TRANS-ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE AND ITS EFFECTS
Introduction
The Trans Atlantic Slave Trade was the forced transportation of at least 10 million enslaved Africans from their homelands in Africa to destinations in Europe and the Americas during the 15th through 19th centuries. European and North American slave traders transported most of these slaves to areas in tropical and subtropical America, where the vast majority worked as labourers on large agricultural plantations. See Slavery.
Between 1440 and 1880 Europeans and North Americans exchanged merchandise for slaves along 5600 km (3500 miles) of Africa's western and west central Atlantic coasts. These slaves were then transported to other locations around the Atlantic Ocean. The vast majority went to Brazil, the Caribbean, and Spanish-speaking regions of South America and Central America. Smaller numbers were taken to Atlantic islands, continental Europe, and English-speaking areas of the North American mainland. Approximately 12 million slaves left Africa via the Atlantic trade, and more than 10 million arrived. The Atlantic slave trade involved the largest intercontinental migration of people in world history prior to the 20th century. This transfer of so many people, over such a long time, had enormous consequences for every continent bordering the Atlantic. It profoundly changed the racial, social, economic, and cultural makeup in many of the American nations that imported slaves. It also left a legacy of racism that many of those nations are still struggling to overcome.
This was the trade between west African and American across the Atlantic ocean and across the Atlantic again to Europe. Therefore because of the nature of the routes taken, it was known as the Triangular trade.
The trade was mainly in slaves conducted and controlled by the European merchants but mostly dominated by the British . in the 17th century , the British were joined by Portugal, France, Spain, Denmark and Holland.
The slaves were shipped from the West African coast especially around areas of the Niger river Delta and taken to west Indies and America. In these places, they worked in the cotton, sugar and tea plantations as well as in the gold and silver mines.
The products of the slave labour were shipped to America to feed the European industries. In Europe, products such as cloth, glass and metal-ware, alcohol and tobacco were brought to the coast of west Africa in exchange for slaves. Therefore, the triangular trade continued in this order.
Why the trade developed.
The Atlantic slave trade began because a great demand for labour developed on plantations spread about the Atlantic, especially in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. Most of the plantations produced sugarcane for Europe, but planters eventually grew such other products as coffee, cocoa, rice, indigo, tobacco, and cotton. The Atlantic slave trade became an integral part of an international trading system.
Europeans craved cane sugar as soon as they encountered it in the 11th century during the early Crusades in the Middle East. Planting, harvesting, and processing sugar cane for export required a sizeable workforce. Because labor in the sugar fields was a strenuous and exhausting task, plantation owners used slave labor. Planters could work slaves in inhuman ways, dawn to dusk, to bring in the cane before it rotted in the fields. Planters could not make similar demands on typical workers of the time. Most of these workers were feudal serfs who were legally bound to work on the land owned by their landlords. Sugar plantations and a related slave trade developed around the eastern Mediterranean in response to the growing demand for sugar. Among the earliest slaves on these plantations were Slavic peoples-the source of the words for slave in several European languages. As demand for sugar grew, the plantations spread westward, reaching Spain and Portugal by the 14th century.
Portuguese sailors who ventured into the Atlantic in the 15th century enabled plantation agriculture to spread to such tropical Atlantic islands as Madeira, the Canary Islands, and Sao Tome, all of which emerged as major sugar producers. The nearest labor force for these plantations was Africa's western coast. Eventually plantation agriculture spread to the Americas: After 1550, northeast Brazil became the leading sugar-producing area, and after 1640 the leading position passed to the Caribbean. Eventually, the British colonies of mainland North America imported slaves to grow tobacco, rice, and indigo. Extensive cotton production based on slave labor did not begin in the southern United States until the beginning of the 19th century.
New World plantation owners sought labor that was abundant and inexpensive. Native Americans were the obvious choice, but they died rapidly from such diseases as smallpox, mumps, and measles, which the Europeans introduced into the region and to which the Native Americans lacked immunity. They also could run away with ease: Their homes were usually close by, they were familiar with the land, and they knew how to survive on indigenous plants and animals. European indentured servants-criminals sentenced to labor or men obligated to work for a set time in exchange for ocean passage-also fell victim to diseases, mostly tropical malaria and yellow fever. They could also escape and easily blend in as members of the colony's white ruling class.
But Africans were different: They came from an environment where those who survived into adolescence acquired some immunity to such "Old World" diseases as smallpox, mumps, and measles, as well as to such tropical maladies as malaria and yellow fever. This meant they lived three to five times longer than white laborers under the difficult conditions on plantations, and longer still than Native Americans. Also, when Africans ran away they could neither go home nor be mistaken for members of the planters' society. Through most of the years of the Atlantic trade, prices for Africans remained favorable in relation to the price of the crops they produced. They were, thus, the best economic solution for plantation owners seeking inexpensive labor.
The Atlantic slave trade began as a trickle in the 1440s and grew slowly through the 17th century. By 1700, 25,000 slaves, on average, were crossing the Atlantic every year. After 1700 the trade grew much more rapidly to a peak in the 1780s, when an average year saw 80,000 African slaves arrive on American shores. Then the trade fell off more slowly and after 1850 quickly declined.
Most of the slaves transported in the Atlantic slave trade were adult men. About twice as many African men as women crossed the Atlantic, and only one in ten slaves traded to a European was under age ten. Africans tended to retain women slaves, whom they valued as agricultural workers and bearers of offspring. Children were less economical to trade: They cost as much to enslave and transport, yet brought lower prices.
Nearly all persons transported across the Atlantic in the slave trade came from the coast and interior of west and west central Africa, between the Sénégal River in the north and southern Angola in the south. A smaller number came from the Mozambique coast or the island of Madagascar along the southeastern side of Africa. Some areas supplied especially large numbers: Perhaps one-third of all slaves came from 800 km (500 mi) on either side of the Congo River and another one-third from the area that today is Benin and Nigeria.
The discovery of America and the west Indies that is the new world. In 1492 the Spaniards changed the nature of slavery and slave trade in west Africa. This discovery led to the opening of gold and silver mines, sugar, cotton and tobacco plantations which needed labour. It was therefore easier to get cheap labour from the coast of west Africa.
Africans were considered to be physically fit: Thy could withstand harsh climatic conditions in America compared to either the Red Indian natives of Europeans. To prove this, the Indian population of Mexico dropped from 20 million in 1519 to 1 million in 1608.
The colonisation of America by Europeans in the 17th century. This also led to the colonisation of west Africa which meant that European powers had committed a lot of resources and effort to develop and establish plantations and mines in America. Therefore Africa was required to supply cheap labour to colonise established in America.
The increased demand for sugar and cotton in Europe : In the 18th century, sugar was a luxury food of high price. It was profitable. The British colonies of west Indies and America were important because of sugar and cotton production thus the British sought to satisfy the ever increasing demand of sugar by importing cheap slave labour in Africa.
The Africans chiefs desired to acquire European cheap manufactured goods. Items such as glass and metal ware, cotton cloth, gun and gun powder, alcohol, tobacco, shoes, umbrellas etc, influenced the local leaders of west Africa. In fact they started selling fellow Africans to acquire these items.
The trade was profitable (Trans-saharan trade) was profitable: It is claimed than on every trip. European merchants or slave dealers made a profit of between 500 and 10,000 pounds. In fact it is these huge profits that encouraged more merchants and African chiefs to participate in this trade.
The institution of slavery and slave trade was as old as the human-race. In west Africa for example , it was recognised . It was only abused when slaves were traded leading to the transatlantic slave trade. In west Africa it was a way of eliminating social misfits and punishing criminals. Therefore the existence of slavery in west Africa lay the foundation for the Trans- Atlantic slave trade.
The suitable winds and currents : On leaving the coast of west Africa the north east trade winds and the north equatorial current took ships rapidly across the Atlantic in about 6-8 weeks or 1½months to 2 to America. These winds eased the journey and encouraged the traders.
The medium of exchange: Originally, the system of selling and buying were through barter trade. This eased the means of transacting business since it was very hard to value a human being for an item. Never the less it was the easiest mode of exchange between the Europeans and Africans
CONDUCT OF THE SLAVE TRADE
The first Europeans to sail down Africa's west coast in the mid-15th century attempted to steal Africans from their homes. Several violent confrontations showed Africans' strength, however, and African boycotts proved how dependent Europeans were for such necessities as food and water. It became evident that the only practical way to obtain slaves or other commodities was to bring items the residents wanted in exchange. Within a short time, Europeans and Africans established a systematic way of trading that changed little over several centuries.
A basic tenet of the slave trade was that Europeans were the shippers only. They were not welcome inland and were generally forbidden to become involved in African politics. Consequently Europeans established outposts on islands or coastal ports where they dealt with neighboring African merchants and rulers.
Inland, Africans developed various commercial networks for supplying slaves and moving them to the coast. Across the interior of West Africa, Muslim families organized slave caravans and moved them from the interior to the coast. Along the Gold and Slave coasts (an area now comprising the nations of Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria) the rulers of large states such as Ashanti, Dahomey, and Oyo obtained slaves through tribute, which was provided by the rulers of less powerful states in exchange for protection or as a symbol of allegiance. East of the Niger Delta, African commercial associations (known as trading houses) controlled slave procurement and delivery. Along the Angolan coast, officials of the Portuguese crown first organized inland slaving, but by the 18th century private Portuguese, mulatto (individuals of mixed African and European descent), and African traders were taking trade goods to interior markets and returning with slaves.
At various points along the coast, buyers and sellers met and struck deals. Europeans examined slaves; Africans looked over merchandise; and then the parties haggled to set the values of each. The assortment of the Europeans' trade goods was always an important factor. Any notion that Africans were duped into accepting trinkets of little value is incorrect. Most knew what they wanted and could hold out for good terms. Typical commodities exchanged for slaves included cloth, metals and metalware, firearms and gunpowder, spirits, cutlery, coins, decorative wear, horses, salt, cowrie shells, and paper. The prices Europeans paid for slaves rose steadily through the years. An English buyer could obtain a healthy slave for 5.5 pounds worth of commodities in 1690 and 14 pounds worth in 1760. The same slave sold in Virginia for 15 pounds in 1690 and 45 pounds in 1760.
Slaves were not distributed evenly around the Atlantic. Roughly 40 percent of the total went to the Caribbean islands; another 38 percent went to Brazil; and Spanish America accounted for 17 percent. Only about 6 percent entered what would become the United States. Mortality factors affected the various populations' abilities to reproduce, however, so the geographical distribution of African slaves does not correspond to today's population of African descent in the western hemisphere. Slaves working on Caribbean and South American sugar plantations faced higher mortality rates as a result of harsh labor conditions and exposure to tropical diseases. As a result, slave populations in many sugar-producing areas grew steadily only because planters imported a continuous supply of new slaves from Africa. Slaves in what were the British North American colonies tended to live longer, healthier lives due to less brutal working conditions and a climate less hospitable to tropical diseases. As a result, slave populations in those areas continued to grow even after Britain and the United States abolished the importation of slaves in the early 1800s.
The Portuguese transported the greatest number of slaves in the early years of the slave trade, exercising a near monopoly well into the 17th century. Portugal had several advantages because of its early expansion into Africa and the ease of transporting slaves over the relatively short distance from Africa to the Portuguese colony of Brazil. The annexation of Portugal by Spain, from 1580 to 1640, tightened the Portuguese hold over the slave trade. Phillip II of Spain granted Portuguese merchants a monopoly on the importation of slaves to Spain's colonies in America.
Portuguese influence declined after it gained independence from Spain in 1640. This coincided with the establishment of sugar plantations in the West Indies by the British, French, and Dutch. These nations began to claim larger parts of the slave trade during the 1640s, and by the 18th century the British were the dominant slave traders.
The Atlantic slave trade became part of a prosperous trading cycle known as the triangular trade. In the first leg of the triangle, European merchants purchased African slaves with commodities manufactured in Europe or imported from European colonies in Asia. They then sold the slaves in the Caribbean and purchased such easily transportable commodities as sugar, cotton, and tobacco. Finally the merchants would sell these goods in Europe and North America. They would use the profits from these sales to purchase more goods to trade in Africa, continuing the trading cycle.
Middle Passage
The voyage from the African coast to the Americas was called the Middle Passage. For the human cargo of slaves, it was among the most difficult sea passages ever undertaken. On average, 16 percent of the men, women, and children involved perished in transit.
The typical ocean crossing might last from 25 to 60 days, depending on origin, destination, and winds. Slaves were kept below at night on decks four or five feet high. They had less than half the space allotted convicts or soldiers transported by ship at the same time. Captains kept slaves above deck through as much of the day as weather permitted. Men remained shackled; women and children were freer; crews encouraged movement and activity. Two meals per day were the norm. The food varied according to purchases at departure: corn and rice from the less-forested regions on the northern and southern extremes; yams from the Niger delta to the Zaire River. Sometimes dried beans from Europe were standard fare. Each person received about a pint of water with a meal.
Shipboard hygiene was primitive. Captains made reasonable efforts to guard food and water from contamination and to isolate the sickest slaves, but sanitary facilities were inadequate and slave ships harbored a wealth of diseases. Dysentery was the biggest killer. Mortality rates declined after the mid-18th century. By that time ships had become faster (meaning less time for contamination of food and water and spreading of diseases), and captains had learned how to prevent scurvy with citrus fruits and how to produce fresh water by boiling and evaporating salt water.
Final Destination
Dangers were not over with landfall in the Americas. Africans were entering new disease environments, eating new foods, drinking different water. Mortality rates through an assimilation period were high-10 percent on British islands in the Caribbean, for instance.
Slaves faced a variety of experiences in the Americas, but nearly all involved heavy physical labor, poor housing, and insufficient medical care. Sugar plantations were the norm from northeastern Brazil through the Caribbean islands and plantation conditions brought the highest mortality rates. For example, British planters imported about 264,000 slaves into the Caribbean between 1640 and 1700, but high mortality rates reduced the number of slaves on the islands to about 100,000 by the time of the 1700 census. In the French colony of Saint Domingue, about 860,000 slaves arrived between 1680 and 1791, but the black population was only 480,000 in 1791. Slaves also worked mines in Peru or Mexico and labored to produce tobacco, indigo, rice, or cotton on the British North American mainland. In the few places where plantation agriculture was not profitable, they did a variety of tasks for their masters, from working as house servants to practicing a trade.
THE ORGANISATION OF THE TRADE
This trade was organised in form of a triangle thus its name , it's the Europeans who mainly organised it in conjunction with the African chiefs and traders. It was also known as the Atlantic ocean trade.
The trade started from Europe with merchants moving to Africa bringing manufactured goods, clothes, guns, gun powder, shoes etc to the coast of west Africa. These commodities were exchanged for mainly slaves.
The Trans-Saharan trade also known as the Triangular trade(.T) was efficiently managed by mainly the British though other parties eventually joined. Slaves were obtained through many ways. At first , coastal chiefs sold their domestic servants to European slave traders. However the source became inadequate.
Another alternative was, the African chiefs sold criminals, debtors and social misfits in the society. This source too could not satisfy te ever increasing demand for slaves.
Another source of slaves was prisoners of war. During the fighting between two states of kingdoms, prisoners of war or captives were sold to slaves. In fact , this always motivated kingdoms to fight each other to acquire slaves.
Another source of slaves was that usually porters who were carrying goods to the coast were sometimes kidnapped and handed over as slaves.
Sometimes European merchants invaded villages along the coast and captured slaves. However, this practice was rare fearing retaliation or hostility.
The most important source of slaves was raiding: These raids were conducted mainly during the night and this source of obtaining slaves was the most profitable and assured of getting slaves.
As in most places where slavery existed, Africans obtained slaves by more or less violent means. Warfare was the most common method. Even in wars not fought to gain slaves, prisoners were usually enslaved and sold or put to work. People were also enslaved as punishment for crimes or religious offenses. As the slave trade grew, slavery probably became a more common punishment. And, finally, a few became slaves voluntarily because they could not feed or care for themselves or their families.
African societies that practiced slavery usually traded slaves. Export of slaves from black Africa had roots that preceded the Atlantic slave trade. Peoples in western Africa had been selling slaves across the Sahara to North Africa before ad 700, a trade that continued to the beginning of the 20th century. Between 8 and 10 million slaves crossed the desert in this trans-Saharan trade. Central Africans sold slaves eastward to the Indian Ocean for the same length of time.
When the Atlantic slave trade began, institutions already were in place to provide slaves in exchange for commodities. Only the European shippers and the American destination were different in the beginning. What proved novel about the Atlantic slave trade was its scale: No other exporting of slaves matched the massive, involuntary movement of people out of western and west central Africa between 1440 and 1880. Although the trans-Saharan trade transported nearly as many slaves, the Atlantic slave trade took place over a much shorter period and on average moved much larger numbers of slaves per year.
The journey to the coast was the most horrible, slaves traveled from the interior to the coast in a caravan covering long distances. Their hands were tired together and the necks were joined by a crust or chains.
Along the journey, the slaves had no sufficient water and food and the condition to the coast were terrible. Those who failed to continue were either killed or tied to a tree to be eaten by wild animals or starved to death.
At the coast, the slaves were bounded together and put in warehouses or compounds known as the Baracoons. Here they were well fed and cleaned , inspected and graded to fetch a good profit.
The slaves were sold off by way of bartering of the use of some acceptable currency eg cowries, manillas, copper bars etc Also the credit or thrust system was used. An average slave was sold at 16 pounds. It is no wonder that a single trip to America made a profit of 10,000 pounds.
Before boarding the ships, the slaves were branded for identification according to a particular slave dealer. The captives taken were young , youthful men and women. Often the elderly, disable, children , the sick and weak were abandoned or killed and others left to feed themselves
The major slave centres along the coast of West Africa were the gold coast (Ghana), the Bytes of Benin, Biafra, and areas around the Niger Delta states.
The journey to America, across the Atlantic was known as the middle passage, it was the most horrible of all the journeys the slaves made. The ships were crowded with filth conditions and no space. They rarely saw the sun and the journey to 1½ -2 months. Many slaves died on this journey because of the starvation, sickness and generally the conditions on the ship.
EFFECTS OF SLAVE TRADE ON WEST AFRICA.
The consequences of the slave trade for African societies are being debated. The slave trade's harshest critics point out that removal of millions of young men and women led to depopulation that stifled African creativity and production. They argue, too, that slaving and slave trading stimulated warfare, corrupted laws (making more crimes punishable by enslavement), stifled technological advancement, and created a class of elite rulers and traders. Some argue that the slave trade was the beginning of a dependency relationship with Europe. This relationship was based on the exchange of Africa's valuable primary products for European manufactured goods, which continued after the slave trade ended, through a colonial period and beyond. In this sense, the slave trade was the first step toward modern Africa's current status as a region where technological development has yet to match that of more industrialized nations.
Those who argue that the effects were less dramatic believe that serious depopulation occurred only in specific locations and only in the 18th century, when the trade was at its height. Some suggest that warfare caused slave trading rather than vice versa or that African production of such items as cloth and metals grew rather than declined through the slave-trade years. Some argue that African societies were likely to become dependent on Europe's industrial economy, as others did in the 19th and 20th centuries, without regard to its history of slave trading.
One might think that ending the slave trade would be beneficial for all Africans, but such was not the case. Many coastal groups had been exchanging humans for merchandise for centuries. Their economies were geared to slave exporting, and they were dependent on the commodities they obtained for slaves. Stopping the slave trade caused economic hardship, especially for groups who had no products to substitute for slave exports. Some nearer the Sahara or Africa's eastern coast continued the trade in a different direction; others were able to make the transition to legitimate commerce, such as growing peanuts or extracting palm oil. Still others found additional uses for slaves in their own societies. But many had little economic alternative to the slave trade, and for them the 19th century brought hard economic times.
Socially, slave trade in West Africa led to depopulation eg it is estimated that 15-30 million people were exported to America. Yet also, other millions died d in the transfer from the interior to the coast to America, this reduced the population on West Africa.
West Africa was deprived of its human resource. West Africa lost its strong and healthy people leaving behind the old, the weak and very young. This lowered the quality of the people of West Africa.
The trade caused a lot of misery and untold suffering eg raids in the country side, long distances covered in chains, harsh treatment, the horrible voyage to America and the terrible life at the plantation.
Slave trade created insecurity, people were uncertain about the following day e.g. they feared to plant crops that they would not harvest, to construct houses that would be destroyed and feared to participate in trade and captured by the salve dealers.
For this reason, people failed to do any meaningful development.
The trade increased intertribal war fares. In fact, many soldiers or tribes that acquired fire arms were encouraged to raid or attack their neighbours to obtain slaves or prisoners of war.
The trade distribalised and broke down families for examples some members of the family were sold into slavery or captured others were forced to flee abandoning their villages of tribes.
New disease were introduced and spread in West Africa. For example the Spaniards introduced sexually transmitted diseases like syphilis which spread to the rest of West Africa by slave agents. In fact it caused suffering and death.
Slave trade encouraged the coming of European Christian missionaries. These came to report the atrocities of slave trade and campaign against it.
Politically, slave trade led to the rise of states of kingdoms for example Bonny, Calabar and Whyay along the coast and in the forest region, Oyo, Benin, Dahomey and Asante.
Likewise, slave trade also populated other areas of the world like Cuba, USA, Brazil, Caribbean islands and Latin America, Europe inclusive.
Today these have played leading roles in politics, sports, commerce and the military sector.
The Trans-Atlantic slave trade played an important role in the colonization of east. Africa. European colonists used the excuse of stopping slave trade to establish themselves with west Africa. The trade weakened African capacity and ability to resist colonial rule since the strong and energetic were taken into slavery.
Slave trade led to the founding of Liberia and sierra Leone as homes for freed slaves. These two countries became homes of the captives and resettled slaves.
Economically, slave trade led to the decline of traditional industries eg the art and craft industries of Benin and Oyo were abandoned in favour of slave trade which was more profitable at that time. Also the availability of cheap quality imported goods out competed African goods.
The Trans-Atlantic slave trade led to the reversal of the direction of trade in west Africa. Originally, the Trans-Saharan trade had routes running from the interior to the northern ends across the desert. However, the rise of the Trans-Atlantic slave changed the direction to the south coast of West Africa.
Slave trade retarded and disrupted their culture. In one way or the other, the slave trade affected economic status of African states.
ABOLITION OF THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE Ending the Atlantic slave trade was a long process that involved changing economic circumstances and rising humanitarian concerns. In the late 18th century, European economies began to shift from agriculture to industry. Plantations remained profitable, but Europeans had promising new areas for investment. The slave-operated American plantations had to compete for capital and preferential laws with textile mills and other industries that hired free laborers. Also, the need for the slave trade lessened as American slave societies approached the point where they could reproduce enough offspring to meet labor needs.
But the humanitarian motive was strong, too. Antislavery sentiments began to appear in Europe in the 18th century with roots in Christian religious principles and in the egalitarian philosophy that emerged during the Age of Enlightenment. By 1750 abolitionists were devoting money and time toward ending the slave trade and slavery itself. Their efforts were aided by the egalitarian ideals of the American Revolution (1775-1783) and the French Revolution (1789-1799) and by such bloody slave rebellions as the Haitian Slave Revolt on the French island of St. Domingue in 1791.
Britain outlawed the slave trade in 1807, as did the United States in 1808. The Netherlands followed in 1814, France in 1815, Spain in 1820. It remained for the British, who controlled the world's most powerful fleet, to enforce anti-slave trade laws, and that was difficult. The Atlantic slave trade continued, with declining numbers, through most of the 19th century. The movement of African slaves across the Atlantic did not end until slavery was outlawed everywhere in the Americas. Cuba was the last to outlaw slavery, in 1888.
WHY WAS THE SLAVE TRADE ABOLISHED.
A combination of factors, social, economic and political influence the abolition of slave trade. The most active country was Britain which spear headed this move by the end of the 18th century. In fact it is in Britain where there was popular adhesion for the abolition. Slave trade was abolished in 1807.
The abolition of slave trade was as a result of humanitarianism in Europe. The humanitarian movement led by Richard Baxter denounced the wills of slave trade. He was assisted by Morgan Godywn who exposed the inhuman treatment of slaves in Barberdos and other areas.
The creation of the anti-slavery movement and abolitionist movement in 1787, this was led by Granville sharp and others like Thomas Clarkson and William Wilberforce who informed the parliament of Britain about the evils of slave trade and persuaded them to bring a stop to this trade.
The religious revival and awakening in Europe contributed to the abolition if slave trade. In fact, the Anglicans preached and condemned slave trade as being opposed to the laws of God and humanity even catholic popes like Pope Pius I , Paul III, Urban VIII and Benedict XIV, denounced slave trade. In fact in 1774, they liberated their slaves in England.
The French and American revolution: The French revolution of 1789 and the American revolution of 1776emphasised liberty, equality fratemity or brotherhood of all human beings. These were led by personalities like Jean Jacque Rousseu.
The industrial revolution between 1750 and 1850. It started in Britain and spread to the rest of Europe. This rapid technological advancement rendered slave trade irrelevant. Machines replaced human beings and more palm oil was needed from west Africa to lubricate the machines.
The abolition of slave trade was Britain's national interest. If slave trade had continued it would have slowed down Britain's industrialization process, making her lose the advantages of early industrial leadership.
The American war of independence against Britain in 1776. This changed Britain's attitude to colonise and lessened commercial and strategic importance of her West African colonies. In fact, Britain was forced to invest more industries.
The continuous slave revolts: The slave riots in Haiti, Santo Domigu and Brazil led to a lot of property being destroyed, sugar and cotton plantations were burnt. In fact the worst slave revolt was in Brazil.
At the time the policy of colonialism, could not go side by side with slave trade. Colonialism meant occupying an area an instructing the local inhabitants to grow cash crops. This would have interfered with the palm oil trade yet slave trade paid higher prices than this crop.
The development of the legitimate trade: People like Richard Baxter advocated for the introduction of cash crops growing in west Africa. This meant the encouragement of the growing of palm oil and other crops like cotton, Ground nuts etc. Legitimate trade replaced slave trade.
The influence of liberated slaves such as Ottoba, Wgoamo, a Fante and Qlaudah Equano an Ibo. These wrote moving memories of their slave lives which appealed to the British government to stop slave trade.
How slave trade was abolished
The abolition was initiated and spear headed by Britain. In fact the famous mans field of 1772 was towards the abolition of slave trade. It was led by Granville Sharp. In fact 15000 slaves in England were liberated.
The humanitarians encouraged to step up anti slave campaigns and for this reason in 1787 Sierra Leone was founded and in 1821 Liberia. These were to become homes for the liberated slaves.
In 1804, Denmark outlawed the traffic for her subjects. In 1807, Britain [passed an act in parliament led by William Willberforce and Granville Sharp to stop slave trade in Britain. In fact, the law passed made the trade illegal for British subjects.
Other countries followed the British example , in 1808, USA outlawed slave trade, Sweden in 1813, Holland 1814, France 1815, Spain 1816 and Portugal 1817. In fact Britain used diplomatic pressure to persuade them to do so except Denmark.
The British navy was sent to patrol the Atlantic and bases were set up at Free town and Fernande Po. The British sqardron stationed itself around the West African coastal waters to ensure African ships complying.
Britain signed international treaties in 1817 with Portugal and Spain. This was known as the reciprocal search treaty.
The British navy permitted to stop search and capture suspected slave ships. Like wise, the British were also to be searched. And if these were violated , the ships were arrested and taken to the coast if West Africa, Free Town. Here they faced the mixed commission jury / court.
But these treaties had loopholes eg no ship was arrested unless in actual possession of slaves at the time of search. To avoid being captured, the slaves were thrown over board in the Atlantic when a British navy ship was approaching.
Therefore, this led to the signing of the equipment treaty to overcome these weakness. Spain signed in 1835, Portugal in 1842 and USA in 1862. In fact this treaty led to the capture of 1257 ships between 1825 and 1865. And it is estimated that 130,000 slaves were liberated.
In 1833, further steps were taken to effect abolition eg in West Indies, a colony of the British, it was abolished and slave owners were compensated 20 million pounds. Other countries like France , Spain and USA followed.
Western civilization, Christianity and education was introduced including legitimate trade. This led to the establishment of colonial rule in West Africa. The African chiefs were forced to sign abolition treaties and those who opposed it were deposed for example koroko, Dappa pepple and prepeh of the Niger Delta states.
However, the final abolition of slave trade in West Africa was declared by the USA in 1863 - President Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery and slave trade in the whole of the Us. This was a major break for the humanitarians who had advocated for the abolition of slave trade.
WHY THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE LASTED LONG.
It is important to note that for 400 years, slave trade greatly ravaged and devastated the African continent and in particular West Africa. Therefore various factors have been advanced to explain why slave trade lasted for such a long time.
The social conditions in West Africa favoured the trade. Initially domestic slavery and internal slave trade existed in West Africa. This therefore provided a favourable ground and condition for the continuation of the Trans- Atlantic slave trade.
The triangular trade was favoured by the willing cooperation of African chiefs and the coastal traders. These were making a lot of profit . It is therefore argued that without the cooperation of these Africans, slave trade would not have lasted for four centuries.
The European countries had vested interests in its continuation.
Many of these countries depended in the products of this slave labour in West Indies and America eg the British industry depended on raw sugar, raw cotton and unprocessed minerals like gold and silver from the new world. Therefore stopping slave trade would have denied them of these benefits.
Slave trade was regarded as essential to National strength because it contributed to the growth of the Navy and sea power. It is argued that it provided good training to the sea men, employment of the ship builders and the related industry eg before 1807, Britain was not ready to surrender her leadership at sea to her rivals, the French and the Dutch.
The other reason was profits. The European merchants and Africans made huge benefits/ profits eg in 1820, a slave was bought at the coast of West Africa at 20 pounds and sold in America at 115 pounds. This created a wealthy class on Europe, America and West Indies who were not ready to abandon this trade.
The increased demand for slaves in America and W. Indies. The demand for slaves far exceeded its supply . In other words, the slave labour on these plantations was not enough and there was need for more.
Most European citizens knew nothing about slave trade and the suffering. They were ignorant/ not informed. In fact they did not know the horrors and atrocities of slave trade especially from Africa to America.
Most countries did not effect the law to stop slave trade.
In fact, it was difficult to stop slave trade because many European government that even abolished it were reluctant to enforce it.
The failure / loop holed in the Reciprocal search Treaty. Most European countries took advantage of these loopholes to avoid arrest. They would either throw the slave cargo in the ocean of ruse flags of nations which had not signed the treaty for example USA.
The extent of the West African coastline. The British navy squadrom could not monitor of guard every mile of the vast coastline that stretch 1500 miles long.
Besides the above, there was a problem of tropical climate.
Most of the British personnel with the navy patrol at the coast were victims of topical diseases. This resulted into high death rates which also discouraged others to come thus slow down the abolition process.
The nature of the West African coastline. For example the area around the Niger Delta existed many creeks, estuaries where slave ships could anchor and hide waiting for slaves from the interior.
Despite the extent of the coastline, the number of the British navy ships was small considering the extent of the Atlantic ocean. Therefore this problem slowed down the process of the effective abolition of slave trade.
Nevertheless, the struggle against slave trade and slavery continued until it succeeded. The last ship was captured and condemned in the court of Sierra Leone in 1864. This virtually marked the end of the Trans- Saharan slave trade.
EFFECTS OF THE ABOLITION OF SLAVE TRADE IN WEST AFRICA.
It led to the foundation of Sierra Leone and Liberia for example in 1787 Sierra Leone was founded by humanitarians from Britain and Liberia in 1821 by the American colonisation society.
It led to the exploration of the west African interior. It was necessary for the Europeans to explorer the interior of West Africa in view of creating markets to sell their manufactured goods and to purchase raw materials such as palm oil, G. nuts, cotton, coffee, rubber and minerals.
More, European Christian missionaries were attracted in the interior of West Africa. They wanted to stop slave trade completely and create social conditions favorable to the promotion to the European commercial and colonial interests.
It encouraged European colonisation of West Africa e.g., the British used this excuse to bombard Lagos in 1851 and annexed it in 1861.
Although the Atlantic slave trade was an economic phenomenon, the millions of Africans who crossed the Atlantic had enormous demographic, social, cultural, and intellectual effects on the Americas. For over three and one-half centuries more Africans crossed the Atlantic than Europeans. Today, people of African descent are the dominant elements of populations throughout the Caribbean and are significant parts of the population in North and South America. African culture mixed with European and Native American ways to define life in the multicultural American setting.
African elements are identifiable today in American religions. The Vodun religion of Haiti and the Candomblé religion of Brazil are two examples. More subtle elements, such as call-and-response singing, appear in churches in North America. African influence is also apparent in music (the African roots of blues and jazz are well documented), dance, language (the Gullah dialect of coastal South Carolina retains much African vocabulary), family practices, architecture, foods, dress, and more.
The fact that nearly all people of African descent in the Americas were slaves has been an important factor in the growth and persistence of racism in the Western world. Europeans based judgments of people on physical appearance before the Atlantic slave trade, but once dark skin alone became associated with slave status, racism leapt forward. Moreover, forcing slaves to work inhumanly hard and behave in prescribed ways required punishing them beyond civilized norms and the limits of the law. To justify such punishment, people classified slaves as different, even subhuman. Race became the obvious marker of such differences. The resulting negative perceptions of persons of African descent have been difficult to eradicate over the years since the Atlantic trade, and New World slavery, have ended.