Africans in America the Terrible Transformation 1450-1750
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15th century minimal – to Atlantic island
plantations
16th century – small
17th c. increase to 16,000 per year
18th c. most of trade, 7 million slaves, 80%
of all trade over all years
19th c. slows down, under attack, still
exports to Cuba & Brazil (1.7 million)
Status came from owning other Africans…
Social status ranged from owning many to
being one.
 Slaves were spoils of war.
 Characteristics
• Slaves were inherited
• Served variety of functions (servants/laborers)
• Better treatment than Europe
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Slavery was common in African society
 Where?
▪ The Kongo, Ghana, Benin, etc.
 All land was owned by the state
▪ Owning slaves was a way to gain wealth
 Slaves were used for servants, concubines, and
field workers
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Arrival of Europeans provided new
opportunities for expansion of slavery
Slavery in all parts of Africa
 Large numbers of slaves
 Well developed slave trade
markets/routes
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 Most go to Middle East, some Europe
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**Political fragmentation
• Lack of unity and large-scale power
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Stage 1:
1441-1500 – Role of Portuguese
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First to engage in exploration/slave trade
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Domestic servitude in Europe
Africans held advantage in trade
1000/YEAR
Stage 2: 1500 – 1650
1.Labor intensive agriculture in New World
2.Native Americans were ineffective labor source
Not enough, Why?
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Africans were more secure labor source
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Role of Catholic Priests – Bartholome de las
Casas
• Pushed for Amerindian rights
Results:
By 1650, most slaves went to Brazil and
Americas…
 Slaves originally arrive as indentured servants
 2000/year between 1500-1650
 Dutch, French, English
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Stage 3: 1650 – 1800
Reasons for increase:
 Growth of plantation economy
 Price of slaves increases
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Africans promote the increase
 Civil Wars on the rise
 Demand for Guns
 Rulers could not control commercial mindset of
elites
 European coercive tactics
By 1750 – 10% went to N.Amer. …rest in the
Americas
 Every European nation involved
 No laws prohibiting trade
 1400 –1800:
12 million slaves
Mostly from W. Africa
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Destination
Brazil
British West Indies
French West Indies
Spanish America
Dutch West Indies
North America
Danish West Indies
Total
Numbers
3,646,800
1,665,000
1,600,200
1,552,000
500,000
399,000
28,000
9,391,000
(702,000 to Cuba alone)
 Stage 4: 1800’s
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Age of Enlightenment & Revolutions –
Concepts of human rights & freedoms
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Abolition Movements
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Role of Great Britain- led abolition movement
Dawn of the Industrial Age – decreased need
for slave labor, also, economic models
favored paid vs. free labor
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Competition between
rival kingdoms led to
endless wars
 Kingdoms trade slaves
for guns
 Wars led to political
centralization
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Slave trade shifts
balance of power
 From Sudanic Africa to
the Gold Coast, the
Kongo, and Angola
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Asante is on the Gold Coast
 Modern day Ghana
 Began as twenty small states
 Most prominent clan was the Okoyo
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Access to firearms allowed the Okoyo to
centralize their authority after 1650 CE
 Under the leadership of Osei Tutu (d. 1717)
 Controlled the gold and slave trade
 Allowed subgroups to keep some of their
autonomy
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United the Fon People
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Used firearms to increase
power
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Characteristics
 Authoritarian
 Aggressively conquered areas
around it
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Centralized kingdom
Converted to Christianity
Maintained diplomatic
ties with Portugal
Attempted to abolish the
slave trade
Portugal monopolized
trade with the Kongo
 Cowries, slaves, Asian
luxuries
Loango, capital city of the Kongo
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Dutch East India Co. establish a colony at the
Cape of Good Hope in 1652
 Provision ships headed to Asia
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Large fertile lands were great for farming
 Used slave labor
▪ Slaves brought from Indonesia and other parts of Asia
▪ Eventually enslave the natives
 Dutch settlers, called Boers, move to Cape Colony in
search of land
▪ 17, 000 settlers, 26,ooo slaves, and 14,ooo natives by 1800
Swahili city-states continued traditional
commerce in the Indian Ocean
 Portuguese settlers on the coast used slave
soldiers to expand their territories
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 Established plantations growing Asian spices
using African slaves
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Some African states copied European
plantation system
 Zanzibar had 100,000 slaves by 1860
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Fall of Songhai brought period of violent
Islamization
 Islamic elites vs. animistic natives
 Violence helped supply slaves to coastal regions
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In the 1770s Muslim reform movements
began to spread a “purified” Sufi Islam
 Movement had a major impact on Fulani tribe of
the Western Sudan
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Founded by Usman Dan Fodio
 Believed he was an instrument of Allah
 Preached jihad against Hausa kingdoms
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Usman’s son founded the Sokoto Caliphate in
northern Nigeria
 Attacked neighboring Muslim kingdoms
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Effects of reformist Islam
 Spread literacy, new centers of trade emerged,
attempts to eliminate pagan practices