The Origins of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and European Empires

A phenomenon that drove much of the World’s economy between the 16th and 19th centuries was the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. The trans-Atlantic Slave Trade consisted of European nations transporting slaves from the West African Coast to European colonies in the Americas. A question often posed is why were people of the African continent chosen to be slaves in the New World? Africans were chosen to be slaves due to their availability, productivity and their relative cheap cost. European plantation owners deemed Africans most productive in manual labour and most resistant to disease.1 However, before the slaves could be transported, Africans had to be kidnapped, captured or sold away their various ethnic groups from within the continent of Africa. Each slaving European nation established contacts with African slave traders within Africa, specifically the regions named the Gold Coast and the Slave Coast. Through these men, the Europeans were able to acquire Africans.2 A powerful drawing is that of an unknown artist, drawn before 1878, who illustrates African men, women and children being led to, presumably the West Coast of Africa for sale to European slavers.3 In the illustration titled Convoy of Slaves in Africa, African slavers are shown dressed in traditional African dress while wielding European rifles to protect and maintain their convoy of slaves. In addition, one slaver is shown executing an unruly slave. As one observes the image one realizes it is drawn to in such a fashion that the convoy of slaves fades into the horizon seemingly never ending. In particular, this emphasizes the long road the abolition movement must come or has come, depending on the date of the artists’ completion of his oeuvre. After Africans were captu...

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...: A Census is dives deeply into estimates from the era of slavery in West Africa to allow scholars an understanding of the numbers of Africans and Europeans involved in the industry. Perhaps the most useful source I encountered, was Trading Souls, in which the Beckles and Sheperd utilize charts, maps and illustrations as well as primary sources. Specifically, in the chapter devoted to the financial and commercial organization of the slave trade, the authors include contemporary photographs of various slaving strongholds, a map detailing the specific routes taken by slavers from West Africa to the West Indies and a chart detailing the Spanish exports of slaves from Africa between 1595 and 1640.34 In conclusion, the most successful sources were those in which authors were able to establish an organized timeline and include numerical evidence to support their arguments.