The Historical Context: Part Three - The Trans-Saharan and The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trades

Labor in Africa

  • Forms of labor that existed in Africa prior to Arab and Western contact:
    • Serfdom: People tied to the land with obligations to the lord fixed by custom.
    • Clientage: Voluntary subordination without fixed remuneration for services.
    • Wage labor: Compensation for labor was monetized.
    • Pawnship: Labor perceived as interest on debt, with the pawn as collateral.
    • Communal work: Reciprocal activities based on kinship or age grades.

Slavery in Africa

  • Slaves (forced laborers) often became such by:
    • War captives: Those defeated in battle.
    • Taken in raids: Kidnapped individuals.
    • Offspring of a slave: Born into the status.
    • Criminals: As punishment for a crime (severe or minimal violation).
    • Unpaid debt: A person forcefully or voluntarily selling themselves into slavery to repay a debt.

The Trans-Saharan/Indian Ocean (Arab) Slave Trade in Africa

  • Pre-Islamic origins; between 650 to 1900, approximately 14–17 million Africans (Zanj) and over one million Europeans (Slavs/Caucasians) were enslaved to the Middle East (including Turkey) and India.
  • Routes:
    • Trans-Saharan: 8–9 million.
    • Red Sea: 3–4 million.
    • Indian Ocean: 3–4 million.
  • Primarily women were used for domestic purposes.
  • Men were enslaved for military (Mameluks and Siddis), agricultural, mining, artisan, and administrative (eunuchs) purposes.

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: Why Africa?

  • Political fragmentation among African political entities in the region.
  • Associated with the rise of capitalism (mass production).
  • European presence in Africa coincided with an increase in demand for plantation labor for sugar, tobacco, coffee, and cotton production in the New World.
  • Explains why 2/3 of captives were male.
  • Demand for African labor is attributed to the high mortality of Native Americans due to European diseases.
  • High mortality of Europeans due to tropical diseases.
  • Africans had some resistance to tropical and European diseases.
  • African demand for (and debt from purchasing) European manufactured goods such as guns, horses, and rum (Triangle Trade).
  • Presence of a slave population in Africa prior to European contact.
  • Africa was closer to the Americas than East Asia, making it cheaper.
  • Racial component.

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: Who Participated?

  • Ashanti, Hausa, Kongo, Mandinka, and other predominantly centralized groups.
  • British, Spanish, French, Dutch, and Portuguese.
  • Nearly all African groups because this was often more lucrative than the gold trade.
  • Slaves were often war captives, obtained through raids (kidnapped), and criminals.
  • Warfare (even small crimes as demand increased).
  • An estimated several million Africans were taken in the Arab trade to North Africa and the Middle East (and beyond) over a millennium.

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: The Numbers

  • Estimated 10 to 13 million Africans were transported to the New World between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries.
  • Nearly an equal number must have died during capture and warfare.
  • Approximately 16%-25% died during the three to thirteen (typically six to eight) week Trans-Atlantic journey, depending on the departure and arrival location (longer journey = more deaths).
  • 1/3 were children, 1/3 were women.
  • Most intensive from 1700 to 1850s.
  • Shifted southward from the Senegambia region to Central Africa during this time (Congo & Angola).
  • Especially intense between Ghana and Nigeria (called the Slave Coast).
  • Internal production and commerce were even more intensive than external production and commerce.

Trans-Atlantic Exports by Region (1650-1900)

  • Senegambia: 479,900 (4.7%)
  • Upper Guinea: 411,200 (4.0%)
  • Gold Coast: 183,200 (1.8%)
  • Bight of Benin: 1,035,600 (10.1%)
  • Windward Coast: 2,016,200 (19.7%)
  • Bight of Biafra: 1,463,700 (14.3%)
  • West Central: 4,179,500 (40.8%)
  • South East: 470,900 (4.6%)
  • Total: 10,240,200 (100%)

Trans-Atlantic Imports by Region (1450-1900)

  • Brazil: 4,000,000 (35.4%)
  • Spanish Empire: 2,500,000 (22.1%)
  • British West Indies: 2,000,000 (17.7%)
  • French West Indies: 1,600,000 (14.1%)
  • British North America and United States: 500,000 (4.4%)
  • Dutch West Indies: 500,000 (4.4%)
  • Danish West Indies: 28,000 (0.2%)
  • Europe (and Islands): 200,000 (1.8%)
  • Total: 11,328,000 (100%)