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The Atlantic Slave Trade
Jun 21, 2024
Lecture on the Atlantic Slave Trade
Introduction
Slavery: Treatment of humans as property, deprived of personal rights
Occurred in many forms worldwide
The Atlantic Slave Trade: notable for global scale and lasting legacy
History of the Atlantic Slave Trade
Timeframe: Late 15th to mid-19th century
Scale: Brought over 10 million Africans to the Americas
Effects: Impacted slaves, their descendants, and global economies
Beginnings and Causes
Early Europe-Africa contact via Mediterranean
Started in late 1400s with Portuguese colonies in West Africa
Spanish settlement in the Americas
Demand for labor-intensive crops: sugar cane, tobacco, cotton
Native Americans enslaved but many died from diseases or resisted
Europeans turned to Africa for labor
African Slavery Pre-Atlantic Slave Trade
Existed for centuries in various forms
Some slaves were indentured servants with limited terms
Others akin to European serfs
Some slaves could own land, rise to power
European trade: African kings sold prisoners, debtors, or war captives for manufactured goods, weapons, rum
Impact on African Societies
African kingdoms benefited economically
Intense competition due to European demand
Shift in criminal sentences to slavery
Wars motivated by capturing slaves
Need for European firearms for defense
Slave trade transformed into arms race
Brutality of the Slave Trade
March to coastal forts, shaved, branded
Loaded on ships to the Americas; 20% died during the trip
Tight packing on ships to maximize profits
Disease, suicide, starvation due to brutal conditions
Dehumanized and treated as cargo
Abuse of women and children; forced dances by men
Effects on Africa
Loss of tens of millions of able-bodied individuals
Long-term demographic impact due to majority being male slaves
Collapse of African economies tied to the slave trade
Increased warfare and instability fueled by European weapons
Development of Racist Ideology
Europeans needed justification for the contradiction to their ideals of equality
Claimed Africans were biologically inferior
Slavery developed a racial basis
Long-term societal impacts on social status
Conclusion
Massive scale injustice with lasting impact post-abolition
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