The Institution of Slavery in Atlantic Civilization - Essay Example

Effects of slavery on Atlantic Atlantic slave trade also referred to as transatlantic slave trade involve that the transportation of African people to the European colonies and the New World, through the Atlantic Ocean. Trading in slave in was not only to Europeans but also fellow African sold slaves to other slaves. Reports clearly show that slave trading existed in Africa before the coming of Arabs and European. Capturing and exportation of slaves significantly reduce the population of Africa. Slaves especially young and strong were transported during the period between 15th and 19th century. The Europeans and American colonies were interested in Atlantic slavery because the location was easily accessible and secondly it was cheaper to get slaves. In order to prove the thesis of this paper that slave trade had great impacts on Atlantic, let’s zoom into what happened. The ancient Egyptian society is well much known for its unique pyramids. The construction of pyramids was done by slaves who worked for long hours under inhumane conditions. Young people especially from the Hebrew community were the ones who were building the pyramids. With the capital punishment of death, they would opt to endure the hardship as the best options. This can be attributed to the reign and era of Pharaoh. These slaves had no right to anything as they were constantly subjected to servitude. Therefore, the results of slavery led to construction of pyramids (Carney, Judith, and Richard, 21). There was also acquisitions, by African, of European good and commodities, in exchange of human cargo. This is to say that European slave trade terms and conditions demanded that, in exchange for their goods, like guns, cooking utensils, attire and alcoholic drinks, they required slaves rather that gold. As a result of this, merchants, who traded for Europeans, were encouraged to get slaves so that they can exchange with European commodities. Consequently, this desire to acquire European commodities led to slow economic growth in internal trade. This is because, demand for internal commodities went down. On the other hand, the acquisition of guns in both the Central and West Africa enabled establishment of military and political tribes in Africa (Green, 3). Besides trading human for European commodities, some European slave traders exchanged slaves for gold. As a result, there was accumulation of wealth within the European slave trade chatter. With availability of wealth, slave merchants were not only able to facilitate industrial revolutions and capitalist production, but they were also able to establish colonial territories that finally led to imperialism and colonization. Trading of slave in the Atlantic especially the West Africa, brought an imbalance in the political world as in most cases it resulted to war between those who wanted the slave trade to end and powerful African rulers-who organized for the capture of the slaves and benefited from the trade. The conflicting interest of these two parties brought tension both politically and socially. There was therefore tension in the political landscape of Africa that threatened the future of Africa. It is clear to state that, as much as people joyed in engaging in slave trade, there were however, traditions that were created to bring to an end to the brutal trade (Klein, 4). In addition, acquisition for slaves was not easy as it entailed raiding on a village and forcefully capturing people. One had to retaliate and warfare broke up as people defended themselves. This greatly contributed to ethnic tensions at local levels. There was displacement of local people by European colonies. People in the fear of being captured, fled from their native land to seek refuge in other places. As a result of abandoning their homes, European colonies settled in those places and established plantations. The displaced communities had to find places that were far from slave routes. As a result, their economic, technological, social and political life was slowed down. This because, much of their time and energy was channeled and directed to hiding and protecting themselves. Because of slave trade, new ways of leaderships, as a measure to combat slavery, came up. Relationships between kingdoms, religious institutions, the enslaved and the free, was drastically transformed. For instance, in some communities like in Benin, that live in decentralization, adopted rigid measure with the motive of providing security to its people. Empires which could not come to agreements broke up as exemplified by the separation of old barbaric empires like Mali, Songany and Wolof. Owing to the selling of slaves, especially males, to other countries, there was an imbalance of sex ratio. The result of this we men married many wives and this gave birth to polygamous families. Those women who could not get married ended up being prostitutes hence eroding the African morals and taboos. Also, since there were few men and most of them being old, women were compelled to handle men’s tasks. On the other hand, powerful and influential women entered in marriages with Europeans, operating on the coast, with the motive of gaining financial and political benefits. They succeeded in accumulating wealth and also achieved political and social power which enabled them possess and have control of big businesses. One instance of a woman is Signora Bibiana Vaz. She succeeded in establishing a trading empire from Sierra Leone to Gambia. Before slave trade became rampant in Atlantic, those who committed crimes were subject to normal punishment as was described in the code of conduct of African rule. However, this changed with time and those who committed crime, as a punishment for their offences, they were sold as slaves. This led to massive deaths of slaves as some of them were subjected to harsh slavery punishments for instance marching over long distances from island and to various ports. Therefore, slave in Atlantic led to change in which offenders were punished (Klooster, Wim, and Alfred, 10). Due to slavery the authenticity religion and culture of Africans was lost. With the interaction of Africans and the European, new languages like Swahili formed. Consequently, some communities had to adopt this new language so that they can identify themselves as a “breed” of the Europeans. This was a measure taken to reduce the chances of them being taken as slaves. However, as time progressed, these communities lost their original vernacular and hence cultural erasure. On the other hand, this led to diversity in culture. Borrowing of new ideas from one another like agriculture, blacksmith among others. On the other hand, slave trade on Atlantic as beneficial to Africans. The booming of trade by Europeans created a network rich in job opportunities for Africans, especially those along the coast. For instance, Cape coast had a village with 20 houses in the year 1555 however, after approximately 100 years later, the number of houses had increased to 500 or more. This was attributed to the peaking in slave trade. Some of the common job opportunities that African landed on, range from loading and unloading goods from ships and storing goods for Europeans. Finally, due to the inhumane acts of slavery, interventions had to be put into place to end the brutal and unethical human trafficking. As a result of this European missionaries had to come and find their way into the interior parts of Africa spreading the message of peace and reconciliation. School and other institutions were set up to educate people. As a result of slavery, schools came up. Also due to the Atlantic slave trade the social relations between the slaves and their master intensified. Some societies like Wolof categorically divided the slaves into two: women set aside for reproduction and others for labor. The first category was the jaan-sayoor who were newly acquired slaves that relied completely on their master and the second category jaan-juddu who were those slaves born while under captive and adopted by their master. Economically, Africa did not prosper (Morgan, 4). Strong men who could work for the betterment of Africa’s economy were robbed away. Labor force was destroyed leading to insatiability on Africa’s economy. Agriculture and mining activities were impaired as there were few, if none, to revive these basic yet fundamental economic activities. Also, with slave trade, there was a shift of economic activities. People moves from agricultural economy to industrial economy. This change had its own drawback. African community was never used to industrial economy and therefore, the change made them rely on European goods. With increase in demand for European commodities like sugar, cotton, rice and tobacco, there was need for more land and more laborers. This consequently meant more slaves, since cheap labor was needed and this could only be offered by slaves. In some instances leaders especially king and most infllucential people turned against their people. Reliable records suggest that kings who had greed for wealth that was being given in exchange of slaves gave up their subjects to Europeans. This is exemplified by one king from Congo and another from Berlin, they were coerced by European and ended up selling people to captivity. The coming and interaction of the Europeans and slaves also led to spread of venereal diseases. As illustrated, the people of Senegambia region were afflicted by smallpox epidemics, tuberculosis and syphilis. Historians believe that this came from the interaction between this West African coast society and the American and European traders. As to conclusion, the negative impacts of slavery on the Atlantic is was more than the benefits that accrued to Africa. The main reasons as to why this business prospered was because some of the African leaders allowed it to happen since they got wealth benefits the Europeans and also the slaves could not defend themselves because they had inferior weapons. Major reasons as to why Africa is still yet developing is because, potential and strong labor force was ripped away by the Europeans. However, with the dawning of 20th century there was new light as missionaries came to proclaim freedom and fight against slavery. Atlantic slave trade also referred to as transatlantic slave trade involve that the transportation of African people to the European colonies and the New World, through the Atlantic Ocean. The Europeans and American colonies were interested in Atlantic slavery because the location was easily accessible and secondly it was cheaper to get slaves. In order to prove the thesis of this paper that slave trade had great impacts on Atlantic, let’s zoom into what happened. Trading of slave in the Atlantic especially the West Africa, brought an imbalance in the political world as in most cases it resulted to war between those who wanted the slave trade to end and powerful African rulers-who organized for the capture of the slaves and benefited from the trade. Work cited Carney, Judith Ann, and Richard Nicholas Rosomoff. In the shadow of slavery Africas botanical legacy in the Atlantic world. Berkeley [Calif.: University of California Press, 2011. Print. Green, Toby. The rise of the trans-Atlantic slave trade in western Africa, 1300-1589. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Print. Klein, Herbert S.. The Atlantic slave trade. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Print. Klooster, Wim, and Alfred Padula. The Atlantic world: essays on slavery, migration, and imagination. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2005. Print. Morgan, Kenneth. Slavery, Atlantic trade and the British economy, 1660-1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Print. Read More