< The Suppression of the Slave Trade Legacies in America >
The negative impact of the international slave trade on Africa was immense. It can be seen on the personal, family, communal, and continental levels. In addition to the millions of able-bodied individuals captured and transported, the death toll and the economic and environmental destruction resulting from wars and slave raids were startlingly high. In the famines that followed military actions, the old and very young were often killed or left to starve.
The Export Trade in Slaves,1600-1800Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa The Export Trade in Slaves,1600-1800 from Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa by Paul E. Lovejoy
Forced marches of the captives over long distances claimed many lives. A large number of the enslaved were destined to remain in Africa - many were transported across the Sahara to the north - which heightened the impact of the slave trade on the continent. It is estimated that the population of Africa remained stagnant until the end of the nineteenth century.
Besides its demographic toll, the slave trade, and the Africans' resistance to it, led to profound social and political changes. Social relations were restructured and traditional values were subverted. The slave trade resulted in the development of predatory regimes, as well as stagnation or regression. Many communities relocated as far from the slavers' route as possible. In the process, their technological and economic development was hindered as they devoted their energy to hiding and defending themselves.
The disruption was immense: the relationships between kingdoms, ethnic groups, religious communities, castes, rulers and subjects, peasants and soldiers, the enslaved and the free, were transformed. In some decentralized societies, people evolved new styles of leadership that led to more rigid, hierarchical structures, thought to better ensure protection.
In addition, European powers intervened in the political process to prevent the rise of the African centralized states that would have hampered their operations.
In the end, the slave trade left the continent underdeveloped, disorganized, and vulnerable to the next phase of European hegemony: colonialism.
Paul Barthélemy Biya'a bi Mvondo, most popularly known as Paul Biya was the Cameroon politician who served as the second president of Cameroon. Paul Biya was the Secretary-General to President, Ahmadou Ahidjo and then became the Prime Minister of Cameroon before assuming the office of the President of Cameroon.
His presidency was retains an authoritarian characteristics and he made several reforms and laws within one party system. Paul Biya asked the citizens to vote for all the laws and decisions made by the his government.
Jeff Duncan-Andrade is an associate professor in education administration at San Francisco State University who founded the dual-language English-Spanish Roses in Concrete Community School in Oakland and also co-founded the Teaching Excellence Network, which aims to help schools improve instruction and community connections. He is a strong advocate of equity in education – meaning that students’ education should be tailored to their needs and cultures.
Duncan-Andrade received a standing ovation at the recent Carnegie Foundation Summit on Improvement in Education in San Francisco, after delivering a powerful keynote address on this topic. Below are excerpts from an EdSource interview with him.