Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

The slave trade was undoubtedly the darkest period in recorded human history. Since ancient times slavery has existed. In Africa, slaves were people who had been captured in war, failed to repay a debt, or had committed a crime. Some were those who sold themselves into slavery during times of famine. In most African societies, slaves were members of the community, and their children were not born as slaves. Back then, slaves were seen as servants rather than property. The people of Ashanti used to say, "A slave who knows how to serve inherits his master's property." With this understanding, slavery was not a perpetual condition used to prohibit human freedom, but was a means to which justice was served, or in some cases, as a means of survival.

However, by the mid 1400's, the old concept of slavery took a turn in a new direction. Slavery became a business. When Portuguese sailors arrived on the coast of West Africa and begin setting up trading post, fish, sugar, ivory, gold, and pepper were not the only commodities made available to them. Black men, women, and children, even entire villages were sold into slavery in exchange for guns and other manufactured goods brought by the Europeans. It is disheartening to know that Africans were so involved in the selling of other Africans.

Slavery had a lasting impact on Africa and other parts of the world. In some areas, it disrupted entire societies. The loss of human resources in men. During these times, many women had to become soldiers and fight to protect themselves. As demand for slaves grew, wars started as tensions among neighboring African countries increased. For instance, in West Africa, the rulers of Ashanti and Dahomey attacked their neighbors to capture slaves. They sold these slaves for guns with which they used to control trade and build military might. The slave trade also thrived in East Africa. Rulers in this part of the world, delivered captives to Arab merchants, who sent slaves to the Middle East and North Africa.

Nonetheless, the fault lies on both ends of the coin. On one end, the African leaders are to blame for their role in the selling of their own people. On the other end, the Arabs and Europeans are to blame for their role in the trafficking and purchasing of human beings for profit. Because of their actions, millions of innocent people, as well as their descendants, were sold into a condition of chattel slavery that would last for almost 400 years, and create racial hatred within these societies for generations to come.

At the height of the slave trade in the 1700's, up to 100,000 Africans a year were packed into the holes of airless slave ships, and sent off to foreign lands with the possibility of never returning to their homeland. An estimated ten million Africans died in the 'middle passage' across the Atlantic. Many Africans resisted by staging revolts with little success, while others literally threw themselves and their children overboard into the ocean where they were eaten by sharks. Many died of diseases that spread rapidly in the filthy, unsanitary conditions of the ship's hold. These horrific conditions across the Atlantic continued 'uninterrupted' for 400 years.

The slave trade enriched the Western World. Africans were sold throughout Europe (including Britain), South and North America, the West Indies and Arabia. The trading of slaves was so profitable in Britain; it gave birth to the Industrial Revolution. The result of 300 years of free labor by millions of black slaves produced massive wealth for both the nations of Europe and America. For instance, in 1790, the U.S. was producing less than 100,000 bales of cotton per season. There were close to 800,000 slaves in the U.S. at that time. By 1860, cotton production had grown to over four million bales per season with each bale weighing 500 lbs. Over four million slaves had been added to the free labor pool. In just 60 years, in cotton produc-tion alone, the U.S. economy had grown by 800%. The nation had experienced an unprecedented growth on the backs of black slaves.

In 1861, a Civil War erupted in America. It was mainly due to greed that this war happened. The issue that was causing so much turmoil among whites was slavery. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the 'Emancipation Proclamation Act' declaring that all slaves in Confederate areas were free. Eventually, all slaves were freed in the U.S. However, the cries of injustice and civil rights violations against blacks would continue to go unheard for another one hundred years after emancipation.