Age of the Atlantic Slave Trade

Africa still maintained links to the Muslim world but came increasingly pulled into the world of the West African culture blended with the cultures of those places slaves were brought to During this period Africa itself remained relatively free of outside political control

The Portuguese  Established forts/trading (factories) posts with consent of local rulers  Allowed Portuguese to penetrate existing African interior trade routes  Established inland trade contact/collection points (lancados)  Trade was primary basis of relations with Africans but with trade came political, social, and religious relations

The Kingdom of Kongo  Missionaries succeeded in converting the royal family to Christianity – then general population  Portugal and Kongo exchanged ambassadors  Kongo treated with rough equality  Eventual enslavement of Kongo citizens led Kongo king to attempt to end slave trade and limit Portuguese activities

Further contacts with African tribes made as Portuguese made way down Africa’s coast Portuguese established settlement at Luanda (Angola) Portuguese outposts an attempt to control trade

Slavery active on Christian-Muslim frontier Trade between Iberia and Africa through African states Trade expanded with introduction of sugar into Atlantic islands and later Brazil

Demographics  : 12 million Africans shipped across Atlantic  Only about million actually arrived  Slave trade peaked in 18 th century  High volume due to slave mortality rates and low fertility rates  Exception was United States. Why?

 In total populations, slaves in American colonies never more than ¼ - in Caribbean, slaves percent  Brazil received the most slaves – about 42 percent of all those who reached the New World due to high demand over longest period of time

Demographic patterns  Trans-Saharan slave trade mostly women and children. Why?  Atlantic slave trade mostly male. Why?  How might these patterns impact African demographics

Control of the slave trade by Europeans reflected the political situation in Europe: slavery was led by Portugal as was exploration As power of Portuguese eclipsed so too was its control of slave trade As Britain became power in Europe it took over slave trade Slave trade had costs-  Majority of Europeans died the first year out  Less than 10 percent of employees of Royal Africa Company returned to Britain

The Process of slave trading  Europeans often dealt directly with local rulers- paid tax or offered gifts  Mulatto agents bought slaves at inland trade centers and transported slaves to coast  Both Europe and African states involved in trade – both sought slaving monopolies

The economics of slavery  Was it profitable? One voyage might give a profit of 300 percent. But counting risks and costs, trade gave about a 5-10 percent profit overall  Slave trade vital to plantations and mines of New World – therefore contributed to growth of European economies  Linked Africa to globalized trade networks – Triangular trade

Slavery in Africa  Slavery an established institution before arrival of foreign slavers  Slavery used for labor and to extend lineage  The Sudanic states took on Islamic concepts of slavery  Europeans were able to tap into pre-existing slave trade routes  African states happy to supply slaves in return for European goods  African states rarely sold their own people - rather they sold captives from neighboring tribes

Western African states gained power through contact with Europeans (middlemen such as Sudanic states) Use of gunpowder weapons allowed expansion against weaker neighbors Result was unending warfare and disruption of society

African kingdoms based on slavery  Asante Linked Akan clans under central rule Expanded through gunpowder – constant supply of prisoners for slave trade  Benin Already a power upon arrival of Europeans Initial trade excluded slaves – increasing European pressures resulted in limited slave trade  Dahomey Used gunpowder to expand territory and slave trade Major slaving state

East Africa and the Sudan  Swahili trade cities still involved in Indian Ocean trade – adjusted to military presence of Portuguese and Ottomans  Slaves brought from interior – mostly traded to Middle East but smaller number to European plantations  Zanzibar and off-shore islands – plantations established by Swahili, Arabs, and Indian merchants

Islam in Africa  Break-up of Songhay created smaller states – such as Hausa states - run by Muslim royal or aristocratic families  Emergence of Muslim reform movements  Fulani expansion based on Sufi variant – took control of Hausa states  Based new kingdom at Sokoto under a caliph  Social and political changes due to expanded Islam under jihad – greater numbers of slaves

1652- Dutch colony at Cape of Good Hope established (VOC) Dependent on slave labor brought from SE Asia – later incorporated African peoples Colony expanded by Afrikaners (Boers) Britain seized colony in 1795 Chafing under British rule, Boers moved north creating numerous autonomous Boer state

The Zulus  Unification of Nguni peoples  Shaka - military reorganization based on lineage and age; new tactics; short thrusting spear; permanent institution  Shaka gained control by crushing royal families and opposition  Shaka assassinated but reforms left in place  Zulus most powerful African army

Rise of Zulus and other Nguni chiefdoms brought about mfecane – wars of crushing and wandering Emergence of states based on Zulu model such as the Swazi Lesotho resisted Zulu model – defended against Nguni armies All of southern Africa in turmoil due to mfecane Boers able to hold lands due to gunpowder Zulus crushed by British in 1870’s

Slave Lives  Forced march upon capture to trade towns or slave pens on coast – as many as 1/3 died en route  Voyage to Americas (middle passage) saw losses as high as 18 percent  Losses also high on Muslim Saharan Passage  Conditions on ship led many to suicide or revolt  Slaves arrived in Americas with African cultures intact

COT ChangesContinuities Rise of new slave trading kingdoms (Benin, Ife, Asante. Kongo) expansionistic through new gunpowder weaponry Introduction of firearms, molasses and rum Portuguese coastal communities facilitated by Slave trade Break-down of families as slave trade required more males for labor intensive work in sugar plantations in new world New foodstuffs like manioc and sweet potatoes increase populations Pattern of European settlements in coasts and South Africa (Dutch Boers) Joint stock companies (VOC) invested in African trade Rise of Zulu in South Africa Introduction of Christianity to Kongo ( many converts) Diplomatic relations initially between Portuguese and Kongo Slave trade led to unending warfare Slavery persisted (controlled by Arabs from 8 th -20 th centuries) Swahili city0states still engaged in Indian Ocean trade High mortality rate of slavery Africa still controlled by Africans (geography and diseases hindered interior expansion and still dominant African Empires) Islam still dominated life in Africa Animism still popular in Africa African culture remained intact (matrilineal, bride wealth, stateless societies, griots,, Bantu languages) Trans-Saharan and Indian Ocean Trade continued

Thesis From Africa was impacted by the new Trans-Atlantic slave trade ( great circuit, Middle Passage, African Diaspora) losing mostly male enslaved (appox million) to engage in the intensive labor in the “new world” leading to the civil wars and destruction of many families, introducing new firearms for the development of dominant empires like the Kingdom of the Kongo, however, slavery would persist across the Sahara still dominated by Arab merchants.

Africans in the Americas  Used mostly as labor in mines and on plantations  Slaves usually had experience in crop production – skills used by plantation owners  Slavery gradually replaced indentured servitude in American colonies due to costs  Urban slaves worked as domestic servants, artisans, and street vendors

American Slave Societies  Societies differed as slaves mixed with various European cultures  Salt-Water slaves- African born; black  Creole slaves- American born; could be mulatto  General hierarchy with whites on top and slave son bottom with free mixed races in-between  Creole slaves usually had more opportunity for skilled work, work in homes, and opportunity for manumission

 Class lines based on color and differences of African groups (tribalism)  Many rebellions and mass-escapes organized along tribal lines  Total populations in Caribbean dominated by slaves; Brazil only about a 1/3 due to greater manumission  Despite difficulties, most slaves lived in family units

 Slaves blended African religions with Christianity  Runaways constant problem Runaway kingdom of Palmares Jamaican maroons Suriname maroons

The End of Slavery  Enlightenment ideals + Christian revival + Industrial Revolution = abolition of slavery  British slave trade abolished 1807 – British navy used to suppress trade  Slavery truly ended in the Americas with abolition in Brazil 1888