WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA: ORIGINS OF THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE BY WHITLEY, RACHEL, LAUREN, JACKSON, Q, AND SIERRA

INTRODUCTION THE TRANS ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE WAS THE LARGEST LONG DISTANCE FORCED MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE IN HISTORY 10%-19% DIED ON THE MIDDLE PASSAGE. ALL WERE DEHUMANIZED THE TRANS ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE OCCURRED WITHIN AFRICA, WESTERN EUROPE, CARIBBEAN, AND NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA THE HORRORS THAT OCCURRED WITHIN THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE STILL HAUNT OUR WORLD TODAY

MALI AND SONGHAI EMPIRES WERE TO NORTH – KINGDOMS AND MINI-STATES WERE TO THE SOUTH. MALI WAS A POWERHOUSE BUT BEGAN TO DECLINE IN THE 1500S. MALI AND THE RISING KINGDOM OF SONGHAI HAD DISPUTED TERRITORY – THIS LED TO CONFLICT.

WAR BETWEEN EMPIRES GENERATING WEALTH IN AN ATTEMPT TO GENERATE WEALTH, THE EMPIRES OF MALI AND SONGHAI BEGAN SELLING SLAVES TO EUROPEANS. RAIDS AND SKIRMISHES THIS LED TO A SERIES OF RAID WARS AND SKIRMISHES BETWEEN EMPIRES. MALI WAS ON THE DECLINE, BUT IT HAD THE ADVANTAGE OF TIMBUKTU, AND WAS AN ECONOMIC POWERHOUSE. WHEN MALI LOST THIS TRADE CITY, THEIR FATE WAS SEALED.

TRANS-SAHARAN AND COASTAL TRADE PORTUGAL WAS THE FIRST NATION TO OPEN UP MARITIME TRADE WITH THE COASTAL REGIONS OF AFRICA, AND THE FIRST NATION TO HAVE SLAVE TRADING (COME ON PORTUGAL, GET IT TOGETHER) COASTAL TRADE WITH EUROPE IN THE MID FIFTEENTH CENTURY OFFERED AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE TRANS-SAHARAN TRADE. PORTUGAL ATTEMPTED TO TAKE SENEGALESE SLAVES BY FORCE, BUT FAILED. THEY SWITCHED TO A COMMERCIAL ATTEMPT. AFRICAN LEADERS SOLD SLAVES THAT WERE TAKEN IN WARS. WHEN THE DEMAND FOR SLAVES WAS HIGH, EUROPEAN NATIONS ENCOURAGED COASTAL WARFARE BETWEEN DIFFERENT AFRICAN TRIBES.

THE SPIRIT WORLD AFTER THE TRANSPORTATION OF WEST AFRICAN SLAVES THROUGH ATLANTIC TRADE ROUTES, MANY ANIMIST IDEAS WERE BROUGHT INTO THE NEW WORLD. ORAL TRADITIONS, RITES OF PASSAGE, AND DANCE WERE APART OF THESE IDEAS. PEOPLE BELIEVED THAT THE KINGS COULD CONTACT THE SPIRIT WORLD TO SPEAK TO THEIR ANCESTORS AND LOVED ONES. THE ANCESTORS OF THESE PEOPLE WERE TREATED WITH GREAT RESPECT AND BELIEVED THE SPIRITUAL REALM WAS ACCESSIBLE.

FERTILITY “WITHOUT CHILDREN, YOU ARE NAKED.” SECRET MALE (PORO) AND FEMALE (SANDE) SOCIEITES WERE FORMED WITHIN THE WEST AFRICAN REGIONS, SPECIFICALLY IN MALI WEST AFRICAN CULTURES PRAISED AND ENCOURAGED LARGE FAMILIES. FERTILITY WAS SUCH A BIG DEAL BECAUSE THE MEN WANTED BIG HOMES WITH MANY WIVES, CHILDREN, RELATIVES, AND EVEN SLAVES.

Quiz 1. Who was the victor of the Imperial conflict that occurred from ? 2. What was the geography / climate of area that contained ever-shifting kingdoms and mini-states? 3. Name the trade city that shifted power away from Mali? 4. True or false: People in Mali hate children and see fertility as sinful? 5. Who did Africans believe could contact the spirt world? 6. What would Europeans create to produce more slaves? 7. What percent of people died on the middle passage? 8. Which came first: trans-Saharan trade or coastal trade? 9. What was the first country to engage in taking slaves from Africa? 10. What group of people were believed to be able to contact the spirit world?

BONUS PROBLEM: FIND MALI

1. Songhai 2. Tropical / rainforest 3. Timbuktu 4. false 5. kings 6. Cause war percent 8. Trans- Saharan trade 9. Portugal 10. kings  Bonus Answer Key