1. Africa and the Africans in the Age of the Atlantic Slave Trade
Chapter 21

2. An Overview of Section 4-5: Africa
Africans are forcibly removed from Africa
African culture plays an important role in the development of American civilizations
Islam consolidated its position in sub-Saharan and east Africa
Most of Africa remains independent states

3. Portuguese 1st Europeans in Africa (1400s)
Portuguese set up forts along African coast to trade (these forts were called factories)
Factories allowed them to trade w/out needing many Portuguese people there
Portugal allied w/local rulers who allowed factories in return for Portuguese products and protection

4. El Mina Most important Portuguese trading factory
Built 1482 in West African forest where gold was

5. Portuguese Take Over Existing Trade Routes
For example, they traded with Mali and Songhay
Portuguese traded along the Gold Coast (specifically kingdom of Benin)

6. Portuguese Work to Convert African Rulers
Nzinga Mvemba ( ) = Ruler of Kongo, Portuguese converted him and entire kingdom and Mvemba tried to “Europeanize” his people

7. Luanda Portuguese factory south of Kongo
Start of Portuguese control of Angola

8. Not Just Slaves, But Mostly Slaves
Portugal interested in Africa for gold, pepper, and other resources, but also slavery
Portuguese began importing slaves from Africa in 1400s
Europeans mostly got slaves by trading for them from local African rulers

9. Sugar Plantations = Slavery!
Slave trade expanded greatly when Spain and Portugal established sugar plantations on islands they owned in the Atlantic and then in America
By 1600, the major form of commerce in Africa was the slave trade

10. From 1450 to 1850, 12 million Africans shipped across Atlantic to Americas as slaves
Needed a lot of slaves b/c so many died and low birth rates (not as many women brought in)
42% of all slaves went to Brazil (largest of any area in the Americas)

11. Demographic Patterns
Most slaves shipped across Atlantic were men (planters in America wanted men to do work)
African societies lacked men, and populations were lower than they would have w/no slave trade
New foods from the Americas (like maize) introduced to Africa through slave trade

12. 1. The first European nation to visit and to exploit Africa was
Spain
Portugal
France
England

13. 2. Portuguese missionaries were most successful on their activities in
Morocco
Benin
Ghana
Kongo

14. 3. The European slave trade out of Africa arose and expanded when
Europeans began supplying Muslim slave markets in the Middle East
Europe conquered the coasts of West Africa
Gold was discovered in Iberia necessitating greater numbers of laborers
Sugar plantations were established were established on the Atlantic islands and in the Americas

15. 4. The large numbers and high volume of Africans in the slave trade was necessary because
Most Africans escaped from slavery before arriving
The mortality of slaves was high and their fertility rate was low
African slaves were also needed on estates in Europe after the black death
European slavers also supplied Muslim and Asian markets

16. 5. Most slaves transported out of Africa went
To the Muslim states of the Red Sea
Across the Sahara to north Africa
Across the Atlantic to the Americas
To Europe

17. 6. The largest number of African slaves sent to the Americas went to
British and French islands of the Caribbean
Brazil
The slave states of the United States
The Spanish colonies along the Pacific coast

18. Enter the Dutch, English, and French
Early on, Portugal controlled slave trade, but after 1630, other Europeans got involved
Dutch, British and French got involved
The British began the Royal African Company to run their slave trade

19. Europeans Copy Portuguese Model
Europeans set up factories along coast and allied with local rulers (gave gifts in return for slaves)
Indies pieces – name Spanish used for male slaves, which were valued much higher than women or children

20. Slaves Valuable to European Economy
Slavery was important to European economy – slaves used on plantations in their colonies
Triangular Trade = Trade that linked Africa, America, and Europe (slaves to America; sugar, tobacco to Europe; European goods sent to Africa) – see next slide for map
Slave trade helped contribute to the growth of capitalism (people profited off the trade)

23. African Enslaved Africans
Slavery existed in Africa before the Europeans
Africans enslaved many women, and rulers had large harems, reducing status of women
Slave trade intensified and expanded when Europeans arrived

24. Europeans Tap Into Existing Slave Trade
Europeans able to gain slaves quickly b/c they were able to control already existing slave trade routes
African rulers of large, centralized states enslaved their neighbors, and traded them to Europeans

25. Slavery and African Politics
Europeans set up factories (forts) along coast of Africa to trade slaves
The most powerful African states became the ones located just inside the coast which could get firearms from Europeans and use them to go inland and capture more slaves to trade to the Europeans
As result of slave trade, constant wars occurred in Africa as these states competed to gain slaves

26. Asante (Ashanti)
Example of empire just inside African Coast (along the Gold Coast) that rose through the slave trade
Began in 1651 by the Oyoko clan of the Akan people
Used firearms from Europeans to capture and trade slaves to the Europeans

27. Dahomey
Another example of empire just inside African coast that rose through the slave trade
Like Asante, these African societies creative in the arts (bronze-casting, woodcarving, and weaving flourished)
Best artisans worked for the rulers, and their art honored the rulers, and had religious overtones

28. East Africa and the Sudan
East coast of Africa (Swahili Coast) not as much affected by trans-Atlantic slave trade
States continued commerce in Indian Ocean, though now Portuguese and Ottomans involved
Majority of slaves from east coast sent to Arabia and Middle East

30. The Interior of East Africa
Not as much known about this region at the time b/c had little contact with outside world
Movement to spread Islam occurred beginning in 1770s along northern savanna
Fulani = pastoral people of western Sudan who established an Islamic state

31. 7. The slave trade out of Africa was controlled by
African trading guilds
European slave traders and African rulers working jointly
Muslim traders
The Europeans, especially the Dutch and Portuguese

32. 8. Which of these statements about slavery in Africa is a FACT?
African societies did not practice chattel slavery
The Europeans introduced slavery as an important institution
Most African slaves could attain their freedom
The European slave trade tapped into preexisting routes

33. Southern Africa
Dutch East India Company established colony at Cape of Good Hope in 1652 (called Cape Colony)
Dutch settlers (known as Boers or Afrikaners) began building large plantations using slave labor

34. Bantu v. Dutch
The majority of Africans who lived in South Africa were Bantu people, organized into several small kingdoms
The Boers (Dutch) began expanding further north past the Orange River, taking them in contact with the Bantu people

35. Enter the British 1815 - British got control of Cape Colony from Dutch
Tried to stop the fights b/t Boers and Bantu
British outlawed slavery and restricted amount of land Boers could have (to make peace with Africans)

36. The Boers Respond to British Policies
Great Trek (1834) = Boers responded to British policies by moving further north where they established several autonomous Boer states
But that took them into a region where the Bantu peoples were having deadly civil wars

37. The Bantu Wars and Rise of the Zulu
Bantu wars known as the Mfecane
Kingdom of Zulu, led by Shaka, were the big winners of these wars and emerged as main power in southern Africa

38. South Africa a Mess
Southern Africa was in great turmoil as Africans were fighting off Zulu expansion, and the Boers (Dutch settler), with their superior weapons, continued to control much land

39. The African Diaspora (Dispersal)
Africa was drawn into world economy through the slave trade
Africa imported European firearms, Indian textiles, and American tobacco, in return for gold, ivory, and slaves

40. A Slave’s Life
Slave conditions brutal - 1/3 of slaves died along the way to wherever they were being sent
Middle Passage = slave voyage from Africa to America in horrible conditions
Despite being transplanted, Africans kept culture (languages, beliefs, art) and brought it to America

41. Africans in America
Most slaves brought to the Americas to work on plantations, though performed other labor also

42. American Slave Societies
American slaves each had distinct culture (based on where they came from in Africa) though had some similarities
Social hierarchy based on race: whites at top and lighter skinned slaves higher than dark skinned
2 groups of slaves emerged:
- Salt water slaves = African born
- Creole slaves = American born

43. Slaves in America
Caribbean = Saltwater slaves; high mortality rates led to need for more slaves to be imported; slaves actually made up majority of population b/c Indians had died out and not many Europeans settled in Caribbean
Southern Colonies of North America = Creole slaves

44. Slave Problems
Work conditions were exhausting and most had short life span
African slaves tried to preserve families, but was difficult b/c not many women slaves, and families were often separated

45. African Keep Culture While Adapting
Africans brought to America kept much of their culture, while adapting to their new surroundings
Converted to Christianity, but kept their old religious ideas and practices too

46. Slave Resistance
There were many examples of slave resistance and rebellions in the Americas
Suriname = Former Dutch colony in South America where runaway slaves were able to maintain independence and crush all those sent to capture them

47. Africa at End of Slave Trade
The end of the Atlantic slave trade came b/c of changes in Europe and the Americas
England played big role in ending the slave trade, ending the British slave trade in 1807, and pressuring other nations to do the same
Full end to slavery in the Americas came in 1888 when Brazil abolished slavery

48. Impact of Slave trade
The slave trade drew Africa into the world commercial system with various results
In some areas, the outcome was the formation of more centralized kingdoms.
Coercive labor patterns continued to rule in Africa, even after slave trade abolished.

49. 9. All American slave societies recognized hierarchical distinctions based on
Religious affiliations
Ownership of property
Usefulness of skills performed
Color of skin – the lighter the skin, the higher the status

50. Cultural Views
From 1400s to 1800s, Europeans looked to Africa as source of slave labor for plantations
African people got European manufactured goods (especially firearms) in return for slaves
Slave trade finally ended in the early 1800s
The impact of the slave trade varied over time and from one African society to another
Some African kingdoms escaped slavery's tentacles because they actively resisted or their lands were distant from the major slave ports
Other societies flourished during the early modern times and benefited economically from the slave trade.

51. Negative Interaction
On whole, however, Africa suffered serious losses, both demographically and socially
Atlantic slave trade deprived African societies of 16 million individuals, and perhaps another 5 million consumed by the continuing Islamic slave trade during the early modern era
The slave trade also distorted sex ratios, since most exported slaves were males
By the 1700s, some African states responded to this sexual imbalance through polygamy, changes in subsistence patterns and changes in gendered economic roles