Chapter 20: Africa and the Africans in the Age of the Atlantic Slave Trade

Establishing Control The Portuguese established factories (forts and trading posts with resident merchants). Most with the consent of local rulers. El Mina- the most important factory Trade was the basis of Portuguese relations with African peoples. Impressed by power and magnificence of Africans Missionary efforts to convert rulers in Africa. Nzinga Mvemba of Kongo made the region Christian with Portuguese support.

Portuguese Expansion and Major African Kingdoms

Portuguese Exploration Luanda- permanent Portuguese settlement, which would later be colony of Angola Portuguese established outposts on Mozambique Island, Kilwa, Sofala and Mombasa. In the 17th century, the Dutch, English and French competed with the Portuguese for trading stations. The slave trade was a major interest to the Portuguese. First slaves brought to Portugal from Africa in Gain importance with sugar plantations on cash crop islands

Trend Toward Expansion Portuguese originally raided for slaves along the coast but realized that trade was an easier way to get more slaves. Slave trade was important when plantations (sugar) demanded constant labor. Brazil imported 4 million Caribbean imported 2.2 million By 1600, the slave trade predominated over all other kinds of commerce on the African coast. Red Sea and east African slave routes continued during this period

The Atlantic Slave Trade : 12 million Africans shipped across the Atlantic Mortality rate on slave ships was 10-20%. The 17th century was the busiest for slave trade. Mortality was high and fertility was low, so the only way to keep large numbers of slaves was to import more and more.

The Atlantic Slave Trade Most slaves were taken from sub-Saharan Africa (Senegambia region) but later were taken from west central Africa primarily. Over 3 million slaves were taken by Muslim traders from trans- Saharan area, Red Sea and east Africa. Atlantic slave trade slaves were mostly men, while the trans- Saharan slave trade slaves were mostly women. Trans-Saharan slaves were used as concubines and domestic servants Atlantic slaves were used for plantation labor Portugal controlled most of the African coastal trade until Dutch seized El Mina in 1637  Portuguese no longer monopolize slave trade

Profitability of Trade Royal African Company English want their own source of slaves for growing plantations in Caribbean colonies Establish trade forts in Africa to obtain slaves Fewer than 10% of employees survived; tropical diseases Variety of currencies involved in slave trade Triangular trade: made emerging capitalism central to Atlantic world Profitability of slave trade

African Societies and the Slave Trade In Africa, slaves were already used as servants, concubines, soldiers, administrators, and field workers to Middle East and Northern Africa Europeans used this to justify their enslavement of Africans Slaves used for gold mining, salt production, and caravan work. Europeans essentially tapped into existing routes and supplies of slaves. African rulers generally did not enslave their own people, but enslaved neighboring peoples.

Slaving and African Politics Europeans intensified African enslavement. Endless wars promoted the importance of the military and made the sale of captives an extension of politics. Shift of power within Africa as trade begins to be redirected towards coastal trade with Europeans Firearms, iron, horses, cloth, tobacco Gun and slave cycle Increase firepower allowed states to expand over neighbors, producing more slaves, which they traded for guns Result: unending warfare and disruption of societies through slave trade

Asante and Dahomey Two major empires rose to prominence in the period of slave trade. Asante: dominant state on Gold Coast Comprised of 20 small states based on clans Osei Tutu- supreme civil and religious leader, joinedmany of the clans Controlled many gold-producing zones (1/3 trade) ; constant supply of slaves (2/3 of Asante’s trade) Dominant state of Gold Coast until 1820s Dahomey Access to firearms in 1720s; creates autocratic and brutal political regime based on slave trade Over 1.8 million slaves exported

Asante and Dahomey

East Africa On east coast, Swahili trading cities continued commerce in Indian Ocean adjusting to military presence of Portuguese and Ottoman Turks Trade brought ivory, gold, slaves for harems and households of Arabia Interior of Eastern Africa is less well-known Bantu pastoralists Islamization Process continues across Western Sudan Some states continue with Muslim royal families and aristocrats, and animist peasants Others see conversions across all levels of society

White Settlers and Africans in Southern Africa 16th Century- Bantu-speaking peoples occupied eastern regions of southern Africa. Agriculture, herding, work with iron and copper Cape of Good Hope established as a Dutch colony for ships sailing to Asia Depended on slave labor brought from Asia, Indonesia but then used African labor Competition and warfare with indigenous Africans By 1800: 17,000 settlers, 26,000 slaves

Mfecane and Zulu Rise to Power Great Britain seized Cape Colony Under formal British control Nguni people: occupied lands in southern and eastern Africa Shaka Zulu: Nguni leader and military tactician who began African unification process in 1818 New military and political organization (organized by lineage and age) Absorbed and destroyed neighbors Mfecane- “wars of crushing and wandering,” whole southern continent thrown into turmoil Zulu Wars of 1870’s: Zulu power crushed by Great Britain

African Diaspora African Diaspora: dispersion of Africans across the globe; accomplished primarily by the slave trade and introduction of Africans into world economy Slavery meant destruction of villages, capture in war, forced march to trading town, separation from family (1/3 died in this journey)

Slave Lives Cargo sizes varied and were sometimes as high as 700 slaves in one ship Middle Passage (slave voyage to America) was traumatic Slaves were taken, branded by hot irons, confined and shackled, as well as being treated poorly Slave ships were dirty, unsanitary and many suffered from poor hygiene, dysentery, disease Extreme anxiety, suicide, resistance

Plantations Slave labor was first used for sugar plantation labor and mining, but later for rice, cotton and tobacco Plantation became the locus of African life Slaves held urban occupations, street vendors, household servants; almost no occupation they did not perform, though most were agricultural laborers

American Slave Societies Comprised of African-born saltwater slaves (black) and Creole slaves (American-born descendants, some of whom were mulattos as result of sexual exploitation of slave women and other racial mixings) Hierarchy of slaves by slaveholders (Creoles and mulattos given more opportunities to acquire skilled jobs, such as house-hold servants) Some African nobles and religious leaders still exercised authority within African community Compositions of slave-based societies

The People and Gods in Exile Family formation was difficult for slaves Families may be separated at any time Male to female ratio sometimes 3:1 Religion - continuity and adaptation Conversion to Catholicism by Spaniards and Portuguese African religion did not die out and continued despite attempts by slave owners to suppress them Often Christianity and African religions were fused Resistance and rebellion Palmares: runaway slave kingdom in 17 th c. Brazil that resisted Portuguese and Dutch attempts to destroy it for 100 years Suriname: large numbers of slaves ran off in this plantation colony in 18 th c. and waged war against captors

The End of the Slave Trade and the Abolition of Slavery End of Atlantic slave trade and abolition of slavery around 19 th century Economic, political and religious changes are occurring in Europe and the colonies Opponents of slavery and brutality of trade appeared into the mid-18th century Appearing in relation to Enlightenment thinkers Now seen as backward and Immoral, symbol of inhumanity and cruelty British slave trade was abolished with help of abolitionists like John Wesley and William Wilberforce Brazilian slave trade was abolished