Africa & the Age of the Atlantic Slave Trade

1. Africa & the Age of the Atlantic Slave Trade Chapter 20 pg. 432-454

2. the Sudan (savannas of W. Af) Hausa & Yoruba Asante Dahomey Swahili Coast (E. Africa) Kongo

3. The Atlantic Slave Trade • Portugal established pattern mirrored by other Europeans • Factories • First contact based on mutually beneficial trade of goods • Atlantic slave trade result of historical progression

4. Trend Toward Expansion • 12 million Africans shipped on Middle Passage b/t 1450-1850 • 1700s great age of Atlantic slavery • Sugar = impetus for expansion • Brazil, Caribbean • Demographics perpetuates trade

5. Demographic Patterns • Male slaves preferred in Atlantic • Female slaves preferred in Africa & Middle East • Trade’s impact on population hotly debated

6. Organization of the Trade • Control reflected situation in Europe • European mortality & complex routes of trade prevented domination by either side • Triangle Trade

7. African Societies How did the Atlantic slave trade change earlier slave patterns already inherent in African society?

8. Slaving & African Politics • Expansion of states & slaving wars both a cause & result of Atlantic trade • Slaving societies vs. Slaved societies • Role of the gun ↔ slave cycle

9. Asante & Dahomey • Political & cultural development parallel Europe’s in many ways • Yet economies became increasingly dominated by slave trade ex: ↳Asante ↳Dahomey

10. East Africa & the Sudan E. Af • Area of competing interests: African, Middle Eastern, European • luxury items & slaves still largely for Middle Eastern markets Sudan • Renewed Islamization further changed culture & intensified slavery

11. South Africa • Little affected by slave trade Whites • Competitive climate for land • Bantu farmers in interior, Dutch Boers/Afrikaners create coastal outpost but pushed to interior by British colonists Africans (Mfecane & Zulu) • Shaka Zulu organized militarized tribal expansion that either unified or destroyed rivals • Clashed w/ Portuguese to East & Boers/British to South • Established patterns b/t Af & Europeans

12. The African Diaspora • Diaspora = • Slavery became vehicle for globalized Africa Slave Lives • destruction of village → march to coast → loaded on ships → Middle Passage

13. Africans in the Americas • African slaves performed all jobs, but agriculture dominated • In places, slaves outnumbered whites creating fear & tighter controls

14. American Slave Societies • Slaveholders racially organized society • Whites • American-born & Mulatto slaves • African-born slaves • slaves organized society by ethnicity • African-born slaves were larger part of population in Latin America, thus had greater influence

15. People & Gods in Exile • African culture remained important although fused with other beliefs • Religion • Resistance more common in Latin America than N. America

16. End of Slave Trade & Abolition • Abolition movements come from outside forces (Enlightenment) • Economic self-interest was not major force ending slave trade • 1807: slave trade abolished • 1888: world slavery abolished

17. Global Connections • Africa enters the world economy, for better or worse • Africa forced to adapt in ways that weakened it & aided colonization • Legacy of the slave trade lingers long after slavery was abolished