The Effects of the
Transatlantic Slave Trade
The Effects of the
Transatlantic Slave Trade
The Transatlantic Slave Trade effected
Africa, Europe, and the Americas in
very different and significant ways.
Those effects are not necessarily all
located in the past, however. The
current status of Africa, Europe, and the
Americas global political positions and
their economies are deeply linked to this
terrible part of history.
Effects on Africa
1. Depopulation
Considering the kind
of work enslave
people were often
required to do, what
segment of the African
population do you
think was MOST
effected by the slave
trade, and why?
Males, ages 15-25,
were targeted by slave
traders
Depopulation
What happens if you
take away a
community’s strong,
young men?
You take away some of the most
creative, productive, & skilled
segment of the population
You weaken a community’s
ability to protect itself
You take away that
community’s future: these men
would have been fathers
Depopulation
African communities also experienced wars and
raiding, which causing death
African coastal communities were especially
depopulated as people migrated to the interior to
escape slave traders and warring
Slave trade caused cultural damage to communities
2. Violence
What are some of the
ways people avoided
becoming slaves
themselves that
involve violence?
Wars between
communities broke
out to avoid slavery
This caused lasting
divisions/conflict
between tribes that
still exist today
3. Economics
If some communities were fighting with each other
to escape slavery, what would have happened to the
trade relationships that had existed before?
Trade stopped between certain groups, making
African communities more dependent on the
European traders.
Economics
How would the loss of a community’s young men
effect its economy? Think about what African
economies would have been based on at that time.
The loss of strong, young men mean the loss of
workers. These men were sometimes exchanged for
guns, alcohol, and luxury goods – which did not
help the continent’s economic development.
Economics
Europeans came with goods not found in Africa
previously, or at least not readily available, but they
also came with some items that WERE available.
Some African communities chose to trade and do
business with the Europeans, further hurting local
businesses and the the future of those communities’
economy.
Economics
African communities were undergoing rapid and
extreme changes due to the Transatlantic Slave
Trade, many businesses did not plan for the future,
since it was uncertain.
4. Racism
Africans were thought of as an inferior race. They
were thought of as objects – “commodities” – not
human beings
Eurocentric justification that they were bringing
Africans to a “better place”
Racism stemming from the slave trade can still be
felt today
5. Sierra Leone (1787) &
Liberia (1820s)
These two African countries were formed as
settlements for ex-slaves.
The capital of Sierra Leone is Freetown
Effects on Europe
1. Economics
Europeans were
running the slave
trade, they owned
plantations in the
Americas, and mines
in Africa… what does
this mean for
European economies?
They made HUGE
profits off the slave
trade
Economics
The Transatlantic
Slave Trade meant an
increase in the number
of ports. How would
this effect the
economy?
Boosted shipping
industry:
More ships
More crew
More nets
More timber
Economics
Money from the slave
trade contributed to the
Industrial Revolution
(factories, urbanization,
etc.)
European countries
received new raw
materials:
Cotton
Tobacco
Sugar cane
Raw materials were
turned into products
which were sold for
more $
2. World Power
European empires
were able to grow due
to strong economies.
They remain the
major world powers
today.
The weakened status
of African
communities and the
strength and money of
European ones,
allowed the
Europeans to colonize
Africa easier.
3. Culture
Gained African culture:
Ideas
Language
Religion
Views on gov’t
Music
Food
Art
Technology
4. Politics
New laws created: laws that governed the slave trade
and that put an end to it.
Abolition movement: a movement seeking to
abolish slavery, through various means.
Effects on the
Americas
1. Culture
Just as Europe gained
African culture, so did
the Americas
Ideas
Language
Religion
Views on gov’t
Music
Food
Art
Technology
Culture
Many famous Black Americans – musicians, artists,
writers, thinkers, politicians, athletes, etc. – are
descended from Africans brought over as slaves.
2. Economics
How would the slave trade have helped the
American economy?
Plantations were very successful and made a lot of
money which went into the larger economy.
Economics
1.
2.
Plantations were so
successful in part
because:
Free labourers who
could work in hot
temps.
Labourers with
agricultural and mining
skills
Also:
Enslaved Blacks became
talented, free carpenters,
masons, mechanics,
miners, and inventors
White Americans made
money selling raw
materials to Europeans
in exchange for slaves
3. Politics
Political effects were
both good and bad
Contributed to the
cause of Civil War
New laws created
Abolition movement
Conclusion
Would the world be all that different if
the Transatlantic Slave Trade had
never existed? Probably. But who
knows. A better question is, now that
you know about the effects the Slave
Trade had on Europe, the Americas,
and Africa, are you able to critically
understand how history can still
touch lives today?