Let us address Part 1 of the question first: how the Atlantic slave trade reshaped sub-Saharan African societies. The slave trade caused a general weakening of the African societies as a whole because able-bodied men, women, and children were being enslaved. This left the continent open to colonization by European settlers in search of diamonds, gold, spices, and any other valuable trade items.
In general, sub-Saharan Africa in the 1700’s was a series of small states or loose federations. These groups often warred among themselves in order to gain power and land. Around this time, the Europeans introduced firearms into Africa. They would help one particular city-state defeat another, then buy the captives for the slave trade. It was common for European traders to ally with one tribe seeking to overthrow another. This caused wars to escalate, leading to a large increase in the number of people enslaved. Warfare of varying degrees occurred all along the Atlantic coast.
This fighting completely wiped out some groups while others became more powerful. Enslavement as a punishment for crime became a common practice. If someone were accused of witchcraft, theft, or some other crime, he or she could be sold into slavery. Even those who were considered ‘social misfits’ could be subject to banishment by slavery.
As the slave trade intensified, families and communities were torn apart. Some groups tried to establish practices to limit the slave trade within their area to little avail. To protect relatives, some men and women offered to trade places with the loved one being given to the slave traders. Others tried to buy the person back.
Sometimes resistance to the slave trade became violent. Slave ships and depots were attacked and some enslaved groups tried to revolt. However, these efforts did little to stop the growing demand for slaves.
Politically, sub-Saharan Africa was fragmented. Several small city-states and loose federations could not support a strong enough government to slow the slave trade’s impact. Within these small political groupings, leaders often succumbed to greed. They controlled the ports and trade routes and were more than happy to encourage the slave trade with the Europeans, since it made them individually wealthy. The slave trade, especially the large loss of people (estimates range from 7.5 million men to 15.5 million people taken), prevented African societies from becoming large, strong, unified states. It also stunted economic growth, as communities did not focus on producing crops or making goods for trade. Europeans encouraged the factions to war in order to take the defeated onto the slave ships. This left the sub-Saharan continent in constant unrest; any peace was short-lived at best.
Now, to the second part of your question: which groups benefited from Africa’s growing entanglements in global commerce?
Primarily, western European countries became the wealthiest from the slave trade. England had three major ports dedicated to human trafficking; Holland, Portugal, and France also had large ports to route the ’cargo.’ There was a huge demand for labor, especially in the Americas, and wealthy landowners didn’t really care where the workers came from.
European traders bought slaves from Africa communities for very little compared to the selling price. Commonly they would trade shells, iron bars, cloth, or small amounts of silver or gold for a human being. The profits were enormous.
Local African leaders also benefited by selling prisoners of war, those accused of a crime, those in debt, or even those who simply ‘didn’t fit in’ in the leader’s view.
Additionally, a growing pirate trade also benefited from the African slave market. Though smaller in scale than the European enterprises, these individual captains and crews also made huge profits selling human beings.
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