Did you know that over 12 million Africans were transported across the Atlantic Ocean and enslaved? This was the largest forged movement of people ever. All of this was part of the trans-Atlantic slave trade that took place during the Age of Exploration. As Europeans started plantation farms in the Americas, they needed people to work on them. Europeans looked for cheap labor and slavery. After many of the indigenous people had died from new disease, Europeans decided to enslave Africans. This was the trans-Atlantic slave trade changed life in Africa, created inhumane conditions and killed many people.
Firstly, life in Africa changed drastically. The trans-Atlantic slave trade led to severe depopulation in Africa (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica). As many of the slaves were men, this also led to a distorted ratio of male to female population. The slave trade also caused many hardships in agriculture because of the fear in being enslaved. People had to move around, not being able to stay in places long enough to cultivate plants and food. The hunt for slaves was as well a factor for violence and lawlessness in African communities. African kings, as well as merchants, joined in on the hunting of slaves to be sold to Europeans. Overall, with the vast depopulation, constant movement that thwarted the attempts at agriculture, as well the violence and fear of becoming a slave show immense impacts on life in Africa during this time. Inhumane conditions were as well impacts of the slave trade.
Secondly, the inhumane treatment of slaves had a large impact on the trade. The conditions that slaves went through were brutal, cruel, and extremely unpleasant. Many boats were crowded and packed very tightly, leaving little to no room to move around. Because of these crowded conditions, there were low oxygen levels and high temperatures that created conditions that even a candle couldn’t burn. There was also a lack of sanitation, which led to the spread of infectious disease. These voyages were across the Middle Passage in the Atlantic Ocean, and the journey was anywhere between 21-90 days (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica). Because of the lack of sanitation, oxygen, and time in these horrid conditions, it is estimated that 15 to 25 percent of all slaves died on the journey. There were also unfavorable conditions off sea. Slaves were brought to slave trading outposts, where they would stay in jail cells. Sometimes the purchaser would cut off the ears of slaves to symbolize a ‘proof of purchase’. All these points show the cruel and inhumane ways enslaved Africans were treated, and how cruel people can be. Even though this should have never happened, it led to the ban of slavery in 1886. The death of many enslaved Africans had also immense impact.
Finally, the death of many enslaved Africans was the grimmest impact of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. With an estimated 12 million people being transported across the Atlantic Ocean, 15 to 25 percent of those people died. That is a total of 1.8 million to 3 million deaths. Most of these deaths resulted from poor conditions on the voyages across the Atlantic Ocean. Some of the deaths on voyage also came from disease or starvation. As there was no sanitation on boats as well as little space, infectious disease spread out of control. In attempts to curb disease spread, sometimes slaves were thrown overboard. This practice was also used as a warning to other slaves not to mess around. Starvation also caused many deaths. If there was unfavorable weather, the allotment of food was significantly reduced often leading to starvation and death (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica).
With many people dead from the trans-Atlantic slave trade, this is the saddest and grimmest part of the Age of Exploration. All three of these points show the great effects of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.