Background
The present-day African continent witnessed well-established sour salve trades beginning in the 1400s. However, the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade serves as the widely-recognized and largest of these trades. Starting in the 15 th century, the slave in question remained characterized by forceful shipment of up to 20 million slaves from Eastern, West, as well as West Central Africa to the various European colonies (Nunn& Wantchekon, 2011). The sudden increase when it comes to the demand for African slaves led to far-reaching negative changes or effects on Africa’s political, economic, and social well-being and structures.
Impacts
Social effects . During the Slave Trade, Europeans depended on individual African rulers, as well as mercantile classes, who played a leading role in helping them gain access to slaves. Although African communities had elements of social stratification, the arrival of European slave trades worsened the situation. They collaborated with rulers to create a servile class. For Example, Dantzig (1975) has so far reported that the Slave Trade led to the emergence of class and racial superiority, which, in turn, destabilized African social structures. Another social impact of trade involves the perpetuation of gender inequality. In particular, up to two-thirds of slaves were men (Nunn, 2017). European traders considered women as weak and unskilled people. By portraying women as inferior, African societies continue to view their female members as second-class individuals.
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Politics . Besides its social effects, the Slave Trade saw French, Dutch, Portuguese, as well as Spanish traders work with pre-colonial African empires or kingdoms, including the Ashanti Kingdom in present-day Ghana (Dantzig, 1975). The high-level cooperation between European and African kingdoms led to the creation of slave ports from where slaves could be shipped to Europe and associated colonies. Most importantly, rulers of pre-colonial kingdoms, who associated with Europeans, accumulated enormous well, as well as power (Nunn & Wantchekon, 2011). They also received firearms, which resulted not only in increased warfare but also political instability. Consequently, the prevalence of tribal clashes and civil wars in Africa can be traced back to the Slave Trade.
Economy . Recent research and available history books have shown that the origins of the Atlantic Slave Trade were gold. In particular, Dantzig (1975) reported that the Fanti Kingdom, as well as the Akwamu Empire in Coast, thrived rose as gold trading before concentrating on the thriving slave trade. Nunn (2017) argues that this form of slavery contributed to the poor state of Eastern and West African countries. By transporting large amounts of natural and human resources to Europe, slave traders undermined Africans the much-needed tools for spurring economic growth.
References
Dantzig, A. (1975). Effects of the Atlantic Slave Trade on some West African societies. Outre-Mers. Revue d'histoire , 226-227 .
Nunn, N. & Wantchekon, L. (2011). The Slave Trade and the origins of mistrust in Africa. American Economic Review , 101 , 3221-3252.
Nunn, N. (2017). Understanding the long-run effects of Africa’s slave trades . Retrieved Jun. 18, 2019 from: https://voxeu.org/article/understanding-long-run-effects-africa-s-slave-trades
Whatley, W. &Gillezeau, R. (2011). The Impact of the Transatlantic Slave Trade on ethnic stratification in Africa. American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings , 101 , 571-576.
