Slavery and triangular trade -Africans come to Americas

By 1400 there were prosperous trading states in East and West Africa. Along the East African coast there were bustling trading city-states. Gold and other valuable products from the interior were exported to Asia and India. A rich variety of cultures, languages, and religions all were evident. Swahili, a language that is a mix of African and Arabic words was used by many traders. Many Africans also adopted Islam as their religion and it spread to much of Africa. Africa

West Africa had many powerful trading city-states such as Mali and Songhai. Between 1200 & 1400 the Kingdom of Mali and it’s Emperor Mansa Musa were the most powerful. Mansa Musa was a Muslim who went on a pilgrimage to the Middle East. Along the way he gave away so much gold that he bankrupted some local economies.

Spread of Islam Islam spread throughout Northern Africa as trade increased with the Middle East and Asia.

The triangular trade system was so named because the ships left from European ports with manufactured goods, stopped in Africa to trade goods and gather the captives, after which they set out for the New World to deliver their human cargo, trade for natural goods and then returned to the ports of Europe. The Middle Passage was that part of the slave triangle that brought the human cargo from West Africa to North America, South America, and the Caribbean. Triangular trade

One leg of triangular trade brought manufactured goods from Europe to Africa. Some goods might include knives, guns, pots, beads, cloth, hardware, rum, or salt. Europe to Africa

Africa to the Americas (The Middle Passage) Originally European traders wanted Ivory, gold, and other goods. European colonies in the Americas needed workers for their large sugar plantations, mines, and tobacco fields. African rulers would capture and sell their enemies and neighbors to European slave traders who would sell them in the Americas. Africa to the Americas (The Middle Passage)

European goods were bartered (traded) for slaves European goods were bartered (traded) for slaves. Many of the slave ship captains were Portugese and had already established their trade routes around Africa

Middle Passage Conditions The trip from Africa to the Americas was referred to as the Middle Passage. Slaves were crammed tightly onto shelves and chained. They had little space and disease was rampant.

The captured Africans were allowed on deck for very little time and were given little food. Many died from disease or committed suicide. Tight packers lost more “cargo” because they packed in as many captives as possible.

Loose packers carried fewer Africans and lost fewer on each trip but made less profit. Most slave traders were tight packers. An estimated 2-3 million Africans died during the 400 years of the slave trade.

Americas back to Europe Goods from the colonies in the Americas traveled back to Europe in the holds of the ships who had unloaded their slave cargoes. Molasses, sugar, tobacco, indigo, and other crops along with lumber, fish, and furs were shipped to Europeans who eagerly awaited them.

Triangle Trade Map