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