Title: The Turning Point: European Conquests of the Americas (1492-1800)
Headings: The Turning Point: European Conquests of the Americas (1492-1800)
The Turning Point: European Conquests of the Americas (1492-1800)
Content: Along the coasts the Portuguese (followed by the Spanish and English) traded firearms, tobacco, cotton, Indian cloth, iron bars, and liquor for enslaved people. It is estimated that central and west Africans acquired over 20 million guns from Europeans during the slave trade, mostly between 1650 and 1850 (Getz 96). This global trade shattered the stability, wealth, and human capital of African nations. On the brutal Middle Passage alone, 1 to 1.5 million Africans died of sickness, abuse, and dehydration (90). African kingdoms and empires were forced to make tough choices about whether they would join the “slaves for guns” trade to compete against their neighbors. If they decided not to make the trade, their neighbors could