The Transatlantic Slave Trade

The Atlantic Slave Trade was the most notable consequence of European explorations along the coast of Africa in the 1400s. During the age of European maritime and commercial expansion, large areas of Africa were brought into the orbit of the burgeoning world economy and were influenced by the transformation taking place. The slave trade, as devastating as it was for the African population, changed the course of history and had an indirect effect on societies as far as China. Thus, this integration of the African continent in the global network of change had a profound impact on the whole world.

At first, the scope of the slave trade was insignificant on the global scale. When the Portugese estabilished their first factories along the west African coast, what they did was provide local African rulers with slaves brought from other streches of the coast. In return, the Portugese received ivory, pepper, animal skins, and gold. But the Portugese quickly realized that they could successfully exploit the institution of slavery, especially because the Iberian peninsula had been maintaining a consistent amount of slaves ever since the Muslims estabilished their presence there in the 700s. The first slaves brought directly to Portugal from Africa arrived in 1441, after which slaves became a common trade item. An additional impetus was provided when the Portugese and the Spanish began to develop sugar plantations on the Atlantic islands of Madeira and the Canaries. But what most severely increased the scope of the slave trade and added the adjective 'transatlantic' was the development of the American plantation colonies, especially Brazil, on the other side of the world. The voyages of Columbus and the successive defeat of the Aztecs and Inca populations by Cortez and Pizarro, respectively, enabled the Iberians to monopolize Latin America and assert themselves as the prime authority there. Because the remaining indigenous population had no immunity to the diseases which the Europeans brought along with them, they died out quickly, thus leaving the conquerors with no other alternative but to turn to Africa and extract their labor force from this vibrant continent.

An eyewitness to the unloading of slaves in Portugal in 1444 wrote,

“But what heart could be so hard as not to be pierced with piteous feelings to see that company? For some kept their heads low and their faces bathed in tears, looking one upon another; others stood groaning very dolorously, looking up to the height of heaven, fixing their eyes upon it, crying out loudly, as if asking help of the Father of Nature.“

It is difficult to imagine the Africans' plight during the era of the slave trade. Even though the transatlantic slave trade was centered around men, because they were considered to be physically more apt to work the plantations, this does nothing to alleviate the effect the trade had on African society. Families were torn apart. Once a man had been enslaved, there was almost no hope that he would see his family again. What's more, the mortality rate on the ships was from 10 to 20 percent, which meant that one fourth of the slaves never even made it to the New World. The ones who managed to survive the Middle Passage, as the trip from Africa to the Americas was called, were shamelessly exploited and often died within the first couple of months from their arrival.

In the Americas, African slaves had to adapt and to incorporate other Africans' ideas and customs into their own lives. The ways and customs of the masters were also imposed. Thus, what emerged as an unique Afro-American culture reflected specific African roots adapted to a new reality. Religion, for example, reflected continuity and adaptation. African religous ideas and practices did not die out. In the English islands, these practices were collectively termed obeah, and the men and women knowledgeable in them were held in high esteem within the community. In Brazil and Haiti, fully developed versions of African religions flourished and continue today, despite attempts to suppress them.

The end of the Atlantic slave trade and the abolition of slavery in the Atlantic world resulted from economic, political, and religious reasons. These reasons, which were manifestations of the Enlightment, the age of revolution, and Christian revivalism, were external to Africa, but once again they determined the pace and nature of change within this continent. Nonetheless, the transatlantic slave trade remains to be one of the most significant historical occurences which marked a whole era.