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I would like to extend a heartfelt gratitude to the following persons who have made the completion of this assignment possible. My Teacher, Ms. Brown, for approving this project and teaching me as I have learnt many things about The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, the effects it had on Africa and African arrival into the new world. My Mother, who helped me with the collection of data and my friends for the constant reminders and encouragement to remain committed to the task at hand.
The Transatlantic Slave Trade, which commenced in 151 0, was one of the cost important times in the Caribbean history. These were the times where Africans were captured and taken from their own homes aboard European ships to be sold like cattle in the West Indies. It has to be known that just a hundred years ago, our ancestors were enslaved by Europeans and were treated inhumanly. The conditions of the slaves were abysmal; however the Europeans only sought them to be nothing but profit from business trades.
The Africans were torn apart from their families without a second glance and were put into an entirely different culture that changed their lives forever. This research therefore seeks to examine the transatlantic slave trade and how it has impacted on the West African society. RESEARCH TOPIC To what extent has the Transatlantic Slave Trade Impacted on West Africa and what are the experiences of its victims? RESEARCH QUESTIONS Many related key research questions outlined this study, these are as follows: 1 . What factors led to the Transatlantic Slave Trade? 2.
How was the Slave Trade organized? 3. How were the slaves treated aboard the ships? 4. To what extent was West Africa affected by the Slave Trade? RATIONALE It has been estimated that over a million Africans died between the times they were captured and forced onto ships. The Transatlantic slave trade impacted West Africa in such ways, it was written into history. Africa, where slavery was practiced for centuries, was a major source of slaves. Between 1 550 and 1 905, around 18 million black slaves were exported from Africa to countries throughout the Caribbean.
The reason for this topic being chosen was to better identify, analyze, interpret and understand how much impact the Transatlantic Slave Trade had on Western Africa. The topic itself was a ere interesting one which played a big part for me choosing it. WHAT FACTORS LED TO THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE? According to Library Think Quest (2002) the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was the most abominable and cruel from of slavery, which went on from the sixteenth century to the nineteenth century. The majority of slaves transported to the Caribbean were Africans from the western parts of the continent.
They were sold by other Africans to European slave traders for goods who then transported them to the West Indies. The Portuguese, English, French and Dutch all held Assent’s, which was a license that remitted slaves to be sold, so that they could bring enslaved persons to the West Indies. There were a number of factors that led to the Slave Trade. Economic By this time, the sugar industry was in high demand and the manual labor was lacking. Europeans needed cheap sources of manual labor. The African continent was an excellent source of labor ATA low price.
Because of the cheap source of labor, the Europeans would earn a big profit trading the slaves in for cotton, gold, silks and other merchants. They would pay little to nothing for the Africans to be captured and enslaved. Then they were auctioned at high prices by plantation owners which made the Europeans very rich. Plus before the slave trade, plantation owners had to pay for their slaves to work and they could only last for several years. The African slaves were free, disposable and were enslaved for life.
Encyclopedia of Caribbean History Volvo. 3 (Leslie Alexander – 2010) Geographic The indigenous peoples were unreliable, most of them were dying from diseases brought over from Europe, and Europeans were unsuited to the climate and suffered under tropical diseases. However Africans were excellent workers due to the fact that slavery already existed in their continent. They often had experience of agriculture and keeping cattle, they were used to a tropical climate, resistant to tropical diseases, and they could be overworked on plantations.
The African Slave Trade, Basil Davidson (1991) Social Africans were already slaves in their continent. Slavery existed in Africa, but not the annalistic slavery introduced by Europeans. Africans usually enslaved other people and were taken as prisoners of war, in payment for debt or as a punishment for a crime. However some were bought to do mommies labor, to serve as wives or concubines, or to enhance the status of the slave owner.