1. Africa in the Age of the Atlantic Slave Trade
Mr. Millhouse
AP World History
Hebron High School

2. Volume of the Slave Trade
15th century minimal – to Atlantic island plantations
16th century – small
17th c. increase to 16,000 per year
18th c. most of trade, 7 million slaves, 80% of all trade over all years
19th c. slows down, under attack, still exports to Cuba & Brazil (1.7 million)

3. African Slave Trade

4. African Slave Trade

5. Middle Passage

6. American Sugar Plantation

7. African Slavery Slavery was common in African society
Where?
The Kongo, Ghana, Benin, etc.
All land was owned by the state
Owning slaves was a way to gain wealth
Slaves were used for servants, concubines, and field workers
Arrival of Europeans provided new opportunities for expansion of slavery

8. Slavery & African Politics
Competition between rival kingdoms led to endless wars
Kingdoms trade slaves for guns
Wars led to political centralization
Slave trade shifts balance of power
From Sudanic Africa to the Gold Coast, the Kongo, and Angola

9. The Asanti: A Sample Kingdom
Asante is on the Gold Coast
Modern day Ghana
Asante were members of the Akan people
Began as twenty small states
Matrilineal clan lineage
Most prominent clan was the Okoyo
Access to firearms allowed the Okoyo to centralize their authority after 1650 CE
Under the leadership of Osei Tutu (d. 1717)

10. Asanti Kingdom Other Akan clans forced to pay tribute
Clans maintain some autonomy
A council advised the ruler on important issues
Used an ideology of unity to overcome clan divisions
Dealt directly with the Dutch at El Mina
Slave made up 2/3 of trade by 1700

11. The Kongo Centralized kingdom Converted to Christianity
Maintained diplomatic ties with Portugal
Attempted to abolish the slave trade
Portugal monopolized trade with the Kongo
Cowries, slaves, Asian luxuries
Loango, capital city of the Kongo

12. Cape Colony
Dutch East India Co. establish a colony at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652
Provision ships headed to Asia
Large fertile lands were great for farming
Used slave labor
Slaves brought from Indonesia and other parts of Asia
Eventually enslave the natives
Dutch settlers, called Boers, move to Cape Colony in search of land
17, 000 settlers, 26,ooo slaves, and 14,ooo natives by 1800

13. East Africa & the Arrival of Europe
Swahili city-states continued traditional commerce in the Indian Ocean
Portuguese settlers on the coast used slave soldiers to expand their territories
Established plantations growing Asian spices using African slaves
Some African states copied European plantation system
Zanzibar had 100,000 slaves by 1860

14. Sudanic Africa Fall of Songhai brought period of violent Islamization
Islamic elites vs. animistic natives
Violence helped supply slaves to coastal regions
In the 1770s Muslim reform movements began to spread a “purified” Sufi Islam
Movement had a major impact on Fulani tribe of the Western Sudan

15. The Sokoto Caliphate Founded by Usman Dan Fodio
Believed he was an instrument of Allah
Preached jihad against Hausa kingdoms
Usman’s son founded the Sokoto Caliphate in northern Nigeria
Attacked neighboring Muslim kingdoms
Effects of reformist Islam
Spread literacy, new centers of trade emerged, attempts to eliminate pagan practices