Question

How did the Trans-Atlantic slave trade affect relations between the kingdoms of Africa?

Answer 1

Slavery did not originate with the arrival of European travellers to African coasts, much as many people think this was so. For centuries, even in the ancient world, slaves from Africa could be found in kingdoms in the Middle East, Asia and other parts. However, it is also true that there was an explotion and a huge change in this activity. Whereas before slavery was more a human trafficking activity that resulted from wars, or from paying homage by one land to another, and it was small, when Europeans, particularly the Portuguese, arrived in numbers in the 15th century, what was once a small activity turned into something huge and from it several economies, within and outside of Africa, emerged thanks to it. But the biggest outburst happened during the 18th century when colonies were set up by more European nations, including Spain, France and others. The issue took on titanic proportions when the transatlantic activity of trading slaves became an economic activity that empowered both the European economies and the African economies. In Africa, particularly, the issue became a real problem because many nations began to develop their economies and governments from slavery and Europeans established slaving trade posts within Africa itself with the support of the continent´s nations. What was worse, slave factories were established within Africa itself and African political leaders became active participants in this activity. There was, finally, the rise of warlords within the states in Africa who, aside from generating warfare and conflict in the continent, perpetuated the activity of slave trading. In the end, the biggest result was a break within African society, especially in Western Africa, and the beginning of political and social strife between the nations of the continent.

Answer 2

 It affected Africa by the overwhelming impact on Africa of its involvement in the creation of this modern world was negative. The continent experienced the loss of a significant part of its able-bodied population, which played a part in the social and political weakening of its societies that left them open, in the nineteenth century, to colonial domination and exploitation.

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