The Atlantic System and Africa, 1550-1800 Chapter 18

Plantations in the West Indies Where Columbus discovered America And the Native population first crashed They are remade after 1650 into sugar plantations worked by African slaves Neglected by the Spanish initially as they turned their attention to the precious metals of Latin America Tobacco tried initially, worked by European indentured servants But the Portuguese had developed a model on Atlantic islands off of their coasts—sugar plantations worked by African slaves And the Dutch saw the commercial viability of this venture Dutch cash and commercial expertise made sugar plantations a go

Sugar Lands cleared and worked until the soils lost fertility Cane cut and juice crushed out of them Juice boiled to remove water Areas deforested to provide the means to boil the syrup Thick syrup dried until it is sugar The system favored large producers Labor provided by Africans Very short life expectancy, 1/3 died in the first year, average life expectancy for a man was 23 in Brazil The capital outlay for a Caribbean sugar plantation was high, but they made quite a bit

The Atlantic Economy Archaic and cruel slavery, but modern its commercial efficiency, backed by investors and governments Not government sponsored monopolies like in Latin America, but private enterprises Modern capitalism depends on credit granted by large banks or stock exchanges And state protection and insurance In the 17th century trusted banks, beginning in the Netherlands had cash to lend individuals or joint stock ventures that wanted to make money in the New World

Mercantilism The control of profits from a colony Hopefully to end up with a net profit in gold or silver Strongly discouraged trading with foreigners and some 17th century wars were about getting rid of foreigners holdings Mercantilism was meant to foster competition among ones own citizens, and leave foreigners out of it The Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company Royal Africa Company (British) Supported by military—French and British forced the Dutch out of the Caribbean England passed a series of navigation acts that confined colonies trading to English ships and cargoes Pressured Spain into granting monopoly rights to supply slaves

The Atlantic Circuit Clockwise network Europe to Africa with metal goods including guns, and Indian cotton textiles Used to purchase slaves, transported across the Atlantic Plantation goods taken to Europe Each leg made money for the Mercantile power

Other Routes Gold from Africa and silver from the New World to the Indian Ocean for silks and spices Brazilian tobacco to Africa for slaves, and Brazilian tobacco to Canada for furs The flow of sugar depended on the flow of slaves

Africa and Trade Slow increase in the proportion of the slave trade relative to other African trade products Europeans dependent on the good will of Africans to trade And did not take over political control of coastal areas Africans also insisted on competitive trading, and would not allow monopoly trading Africans also insisted on substantial customs payments with local kings from traders Most slaves were prisoners of war obtained from the interior, this was a long time tradition in most of the world Strangely, Africans had more power over their lands during the slave trade, than they will after the slave trade ends

In Biafra Part of present day Nigeria and the setting of Things Fall Apart, a novel we will read in April Inland markets evolved in this densely populated area without a tradition of centralized rule Debtors, victims of kidnapping and convicted criminals sold to slavers at large markets African merchants bought Africans and took them to the coast

In Angola The Portuguese controlled this area exclusively The greatest source of African slaves for the New World, mainly Brazil Slaves sold at markets were prisoners of war from as far as 600-800 miles inland, vicitms of wars of expansion Woman and children were generally kept and assimilated, men, who were mostly who the slavers wanted anyway, passed on to Europeans

Why? African elites benefitted from the slave trade by obtaining handsome gifts and trade goods that were used to cement relations with other groups and carry on the trade Weapons were always highly prized European trade goods, which gave a great advantage to wars of expansion within Africa Alcohol also a feature of this trade Africans obtained what they needed to both trade and make war in Africa’s interior European traders benefitted enormously from the trade They depended on the good will and cooperation of African elites to get slaves

Almost No Territory Almost no territory actually ceded to Europeans before 1800, just the cape to the Dutch and the Portuguese control of Angola The Dutch colony did not export slaves, and actually imported them from Madagascar, South Asia and the East Indies Other than that local African rulers kept close tabs on the European trading posts permitted along the Gold and Slave coasts, and profited from this relationship

Islamic Contacts North Africa included in the Islamic world within the first century of Islamic expansion Sub-Saharan Africans gradually learned of Islam via traders who came across the Sahara in camel caravans, and on the East Coast via Indian Ocean trade In the 16th century, Ottomans annexed all of North Africa, except Morocco And Christian Ethiopia lost territory to the Ottomans, as well

The Expansive Songhai This Empire of West Africa, ruled by indigenous Muslim rulers, pushed north through the Sahara and challenged Morocco in the late 16th century The Songhai drew their wealth from the trans-Saharan trade Morocco sent and army south, and with firearms were able to conquer the Songhai and amnexed portions of West Africa and extract massive tributes in slaves from the local population for 2 centuries

The Hausa An agricultural and trading people of the central Sudan (different from the modern political entity, Sudan of today) Controlled various Saharan trading cities, such as Timbuktu And coordinated a great deal of the slave trade into the Islamic world Similar to the slave trade into the Atlantic world, except alcohol forbidden in the trade This trade was substantial, but smaller than the Atlantic slave trade Most African slaves in the Islamic world were servants or soldiers, women and children as servants, men as soldiers Most historians believe slaves held by Muslims did not experience the horrific treatment slaves in the Atlantic system did

Muslims Saw slavery as a meritorious act, to bring pagans into the faith (Christians did as well) It was forbidden by Islam to hold another believer as a slave, but some wavering with this Did this apply to those not born in the faith? And then sometimes it was forgotten completely How different were the two slaving regions? Many more slaves were part of the Atlantic system-about 8 million from 1550 to 1800 vs about 2 million slaves taken into Islamic regions

Effects on Africa Even at the peak in the 1700’s, sub-Saharan population remained large Localities that contributed many slaves suffered acute population loss How well the population recovered had to do with the number of women lost, and since the Atlantic slavers were more interested in men, the long term demographic effects were reduced Economically, imports were limited and did not seem to damage local industries, and taxes collected were helpful But no question, most of the profit went to Europeans