Objectives Describe the development and cultural characteristics of West Africa in the fifteenth century. Summarize the events that led to contact between Europeans and West Africans. Explore the roots of the system of slavery practiced in the Americas.

West African Trade Routes, A.D. 800−A.D. 1600

West African societies were diverse. Spiritual Beliefs Islam had a strong influence, although many held traditional beliefs about the spirit world and the influence of ancestors. Land Land belonged to extended kinship networks. People often farmed the land in common and divided the harvest.

Slavery was common in West Africa, and slaves were often used as items of trade. West African rulers sold about 1,000 slaves annually to Arab traders, who took them to the Mediterranean. The slave trade was an important part of West Africa’s economy.

West African slavery had developed as a system with unique characteristics. It was not based on racial superiority or inferiority. Prisoners of war and criminals often became slaves. Slaves were usually adopted by their owners, and their children usually did not inherit slave status. Slaves could become wealthy, important officials and soldiers.

Throughout the 1400s, the Portuguese explored farther south along the West African coast. But African resistance soon forced the Portuguese to shift to trading. Initially, they acted as pirates, seizing gold, pepper, and slaves.

The Portuguese exported peppers, ivory, copper, and African slaves. In time, the Portuguese established a profitable trade with the West Africans. In this way, Europeans first became involved in the long-standing slave trade of Africa. The Portuguese exported peppers, ivory, copper, and African slaves.

The Portuguese greatly expanded the slave trade. Some slaves were shipped to Europe. Most worked on sugar plantations on islands in the East Atlantic. Growing numbers went to new plantations in the Americas. By 1500, Europeans purchased about 1,800 African slaves a year, nearly doubling the trade between the West Africans and the Arabs.

Thus began the brutal exploitation of West Africans enslaved by Europeans. This fate would befall millions more African men and women in the centuries ahead.