Impacts of Trans-Atlantic Trade

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Introduction

The Atlantic slave trade began as a limited trade enterprise centered on exchanging African products for a small number of EU items such as arms, silk and so on, for example, gold or slaves. By the end of the 17th century, this trade has become a major market for the barbaric capture and transfer of millions of Africans to America. The long-term effects of slave trading for African and American societies. Africans were abducted from their homelands and then sold to America as slaves. Slavery across the Atlantic began in the 1500s when Europeans began to move more and more to Africa and enslaved Africans as slaves. Trade of slaves is becoming increasingly significant, leading to a sophisticated European slave trading and sales system. A prominent backbone for this trading activity was the middle pass between Africa’s western ports, the Caribbean, and South America. The Atlantic Slave Trade took place across the Atlantic, from Western Europe to West Africa, where goods were transported.

Slaves were then transported to the new world and replaced by goods transported via the middle passage to Europe. In the 19th century, the abolition of slavery brought the so-called triangular trade to an end. The Europeans imprisoned and sold these slaves in an auction and mostly killed or left to die slaves who seemed to be “weaker.” According to the Gilder Lehrman Institute for American History, about 12.5 million slaves were enslaved between 1500 and 1800 in Africa, with more than 10.7 million shipped to America for sale. Slavery, in combination with natural treatment and severe labor, has had a negative effect on Africans; families have been torn apart, young families have died of malnutrition, African slaves have been depopulated, etc. In Africa and America, slavery and the slave trade have hurt African society in several ways. The slave trade in the Atlantic was inspired by social, political, and economic influences.

Impacts of Atlantic Trade on Africans

In Africa, families have been torn apart and forced into slavery and exile. In the absence of their parents, children were left to take care of themselves, the vast number of missing people harmed the economy, and Africans were fearful of another round of slave raids. According to the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, “infant and child mortality rates among slave children in the south were double those of white children.” In the first year of life, half of all slave children died (Blaydes, 2016). Chronic malnutrition was a significant contributor to the high infant and child mortality rates. Slave babies were born with a total birth weight of fewer than 5.5 pounds, which is considered very poor by today’s standards. “These slave traders have had a negative effect on children born to slave parents since birth.” While one would think that trade between Africa and Europe will benefit the economy, it has harmed Africa’s economy in the long run.

Furthermore, the loss of approximately 50 million Africans resulted in the collapse of the African economy. The population has fallen sharply due to slave raids and people fleeing abduction; the economy suffers as a result of the lack of people. No continent can afford to continue losing so many people without incurring high costs. Some parts of Africa remain underdeveloped to this day, and the history of the slave trade helps to understand why. Furthermore, due to population scarcity, the remaining population was dispersed and placed in precarious situations.

“Furthermore, the increase in fighting among African groups contributed to a decrease in population,” says School Work Helper. Africans started raiding smaller villages in search of slaves, capturing and trading them to satisfy European demand for slaves. West Africans are becoming vulnerable and isolated from their own society as a result of the raiding of cities, which has resulted in civil unrest.” People in African society began turning on one another as a result of their fear. In response to economic challenges, teenage deaths, and cruel treatment, Africans were stereotyped as “savages” and ignorant of reason; this racist concept still exists in some parts of America today.1865 was the year in which the 13th Amendment passed; this was the amendment that ended slavery and introduced newfound freedom to African Americans. Although the hard labor and whipping was gone, African Americans still faced difficult situations. Racism and bigotry still exists to this day within America even though slavery has ended. All the years and slave trade and oppression permanently left scars within the African American society.

The slave trading and slavery, to some close-minded individuals, left the idea that people of color, in this case the African Americans, were incapable of many things and ‘savages.’ Due to the radical viewpoint whites had/have on people of color, racism exists to this day (Obikili, 2016). We witness racism in schools, the work place, and our justice system and so on. The black society is one that has been diminished and deprived from the very start; this degradation continues in present time. On ATLANTA BLACK STAR, a former history Professor made a wise remark concerning the slave trade influence on contemporary black cultures, “Another way slavery affects Africans in America today is because it never stopped. The same institutions, dominance, white dominance, and overseer culture has never ended since the American system of justice, business, banks, faith, and industry has been modeled on the institution of slavery.” This is a thought that never entered my mind; this dumbfounded me because it’s simply the facts; the structures we have set up today concerning courts, rules, etc., were developed during the period in which slavery was heavily relied on. In one direction or another, society appears to be wrongfully hostile to the black cultures due to colonialism and bigotry.

Slavery remains in many areas of Africa to this day. “We think of slavery as a forgotten tradition, an illustration of the Roman colonies or American plantations from the 18th century, but the practice of enslaving human beings as property persists. According to a full recent survey by the Australian-based Walk Free Foundation, 29.8 million people now live as slaves.” While some countries in West Africa have tried to eliminate slavery, it is still reasonably normalized in some regions. Moreover, from a personal perspective, it seems that the slavery that existed with the use by Europeans of Africans led African cultures to turn against each other even now. This need for slavery is truly disturbing that it still lived in 2018. In addition to causing slave trafficking to turn toward African cultures, history remains a matter for African American citizens.

Author Alma Carten made a respectable statement in her essay on The New Republic, “Since slavery the church in an America that has been dealing with the lingering consequences of white supremacy has been a powerful force for the Black survival… In events like Charleston, the growing body of literature focuses on the lack of genuine debates around slavery and their history in the US, as well as the mental wellbeing effect of remission of white supremacy and the suppression of justifiable emotions of anger and frustration – whether they be horrendous acts of violence or subtle micro-aggressions.” How does a whole race have complete and accurate redemption for surprising acts of other ancestors? The suffering and sense of injustice will still linger in the minds of the black communities. In addition, Alma Carten from the New Republic notes that “…black adults experience extreme psychological depression 20 percent higher than white adults and feel sorrowful, helpless and useless than their white partners. And yet the effect of bigotry on mental health is still reluctant to be confronted straight away.” This is proof that there is a connection between bigotry and black African Americans’ mental health. The emotions of injustice and worthlessness will prevent several African Americans from prospering, which are disastrous. In all matters, it is profoundly deplorable how certain African cultures have been turned against one another by slave trading and the sense of depression and lack of value in the minds of many African Americans.

Effect on African Economies

Much of the slaves came from inside the nation, and the profits were divided between slave owners and slave dealers, both Africans. Because of the low slave prices they paid, the money they needed to feed, transport, or hold them, and the high mortality ratio, it is unclear why the slave traders did not recruit and keep them for themselves instead of selling to other countries, to produce products for the domestic market (Da Silva, 2013). There was pressure from outside the country, but the national disorder also threw the people into confusion in the hinterland. Coastal slave traders took advantage of the selling of slaves. On the other hand, farmers and those who live in the country have been impacted by the people’s losses and the resulting economic loss. No productivity is an excellent example of agriculture. It’s important to note that the effects of political fragmentation aren’t always seen as a bad thing (“Science and the politics of transatlantic trade conflict’’). Democratic reform has been aided by the introduction of checks and balances, as well as a more evenly dispersed political authority. However, since broad coalitions are needed and coalitions are harder to form in more politically divided societies, broken societies can find it more difficult to carry out controls, balance, or redistribute political power. The slave trade offered wealth creation opportunities for anyone who could mobilize people to raid or organize kidnappings of other towns and villages, which caused substantial political friction and the disintegration of political units. For example, slave trade has been suggested to play a role in wars that led to the disintegration of the Yoruba state. Researchers have also found statistical evidence that countries with a high rate of slave trade have a higher proportion of separate groups today.

‘Certainly, the slave trade has contributed to the creation of a warrior state more arbitrary and autoritarian, it has widened social struggles and violence and led to population decline, reduced production, and increased exposure to starvation,’ writes Martin A. Klein, citing Boubacar Barry. Eventually, however, the production of different goods returned to those who could afford and feed slaves, and Africa started to export products such as hides, gum, and cotton cloth. While slaves have made these things, they have not contributed to economic growth (Inwood, 2015).

It became clear that the whole country could not rebound. The lack of competitiveness helps to achieve satisfaction, crime, poverty and eventually societal militarisation. Slave trading has transformed the political system by combining an administrative elite with a “warrior class whose primary aim was to raid the slaves.” The slave trade contributed to a series of incidents that are now evident throughout the continent’s underdevelopment. The continent cannot grow markets or expand the general marketing of business practices when there are no inhabitants and resulting consequences. Africa has struggled to live up to other currencies and cannot extend its economy to cover foreign exchange and maintain continental stability. On the other side, they encouraged the West to flourish by supplying extra human work. As a consequence, Africa was unwilling to step further both internally and abroad.

Social Effects of Atlantic slave trade

The growing divide between social classes was reflected in trade. Inikori believes that trade in the islands has led to growth and stability. This contrasted sharply with the suffering and difficulties experienced by the raided people. Slave property became the foundation for economic prosperity, and poor Africans were unable to survive. The brave and corrupt, like “slave soldiers,” would thrive only. The continent’s sexual demography was also changed as a result of the exchange. Compared to the proportion of men and women slaves in the West Indies between 1781 and 1798, Inikori found that “the annual export of women is of a magnitude that would dramatically reduce the capacity of the region.”

Conclusion

In a nutshell, Atlantic slavery has a profound impact on African cultures. It was initially developed as a small enterprise and became a barbaric and demonic mechanism in which African human and economic resources and those of Europe and Africa were robbed in return for goods and a few slaves (Green,2016). In order to meet Europe’s growing demand, African societies began a trade process which hindered their economic, political, and Social growth through mass-produced slavery. As a result, Africa’s agriculture has become a monoculture based on people buying, and trade has helped inflate the economy of the continent. The formerly stable and developed nations of the world have therefore lost unity and been divided by internal and external tensions that still affect the continent today. Note that the Atlantic exchange is responsible for the economic and social issues of contemporary Africa. Had Atlantic trade followed by imperialism and colonization taken root in Africa, an incomparable conflict would never have occurred between African cultures, ethnic communities and governments as well as the subversion of social and sex roles due to such disorder.

References

Inwood, K., & Keay, I. (2015). Transport costs and trade volumes: Evidence from the trans-Atlantic iron trade, 1870–1913. The Journal of Economic History, 95-124.

ACEMOGLU, D., JOHNSON, S., & ROBINSON, J. The Rise of Europe: Atlantic Trade, Institutional Change.

Da Silva, D. B. D. (2013). The Atlantic slave trade from Angola: a port-by-port estimate of slaves embarked, 1701–1867. The International journal of African historical studies, 46(1), 105-122.

Blaydes, L., & Paik, C. (2016). The impact of Holy Land Crusades on state formation: war mobilization, trade integration, and political development in medieval Europe. International Organization, 551-586.

Science and the politics of transatlantic trade conflict. (n.d.). Risk Regulation, Science, and Interests in Transatlantic Trade Conflicts. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137034175.0015Obikili, N. (2016). The trans-Atlantic slave trade and local political fragmentation in Africa. The Economic History Review, 69(4), 1157-1177. https://doi.org/10.1111/ehr.12328Green, T. (n.d.). Rethinking the Trans-Atlantic slave trade from a cultural perspective. The Rise of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in Western Africa, 1300–1589, 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139016407.003