Title: The African slave trade held economic benefits for both the countries of Europe and the colonies of the Americas. However, the effects of the trade on... - eNotes.com
Headings: The African slave trade held economic benefits for both the countries of Europe and the colonies of the Americas. However, the effects of the trade on Africa were far from beneficial. What effects did the trade have on Africa, and how did these effects weaken the economic, social, and political structure of that continent?
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The African slave trade held economic benefits for both the countries of Europe and the colonies of the Americas. However, the effects of the trade on Africa were far from beneficial. What effects did the trade have on Africa, and how did these effects weaken the economic, social, and political structure of that continent?
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Content: European slave traders initially bought African slaves who had been captured in war. This was a longstanding practice, though African slavery, which was not hereditary and usually not permanent, was very different from the slave system that developed in the Atlantic World. Over time, the demand became so overwhelming that it incentivized war--African kingdoms launched slaving raids into the interior, and against their neighbors, that resulted in endemic conflict. This naturally destabilized the region. Over time, as well, the practice of taking young men--highly in demand among slave traders--had a dramatic effect on demographics in the region. Beyond these effects, the slave trade decimated villages, destroyed families, disrupted the ancestral culture of African societies, and inundated the region with European manufactured goods, which competed with domestic industry (especially textiles). When we add these costs to the unspeakable horror experienced by scores of African people on the Middle Passage and on the plantations of the New World, we can see that the slave trade was truly an absolute catastrophe. Ultimately, the trade ruined many of the monarchs who had actually benefited from it, as European companies constructed large slaving fortresses along the coast to control the trade directly. Further Reading
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The slave trade weakened most states of Africa, though it did help some of them. Let us see why this is the case.