The+development+of+an+organized+slave+trade+within+and+beyond+Africa

** Turbulent Centuries in Africa **

** The African Slave Trade Explodes ** To establish themselves on the coast of West Africa, the Portuguese constructed small bastions and trading posts. From there, they circumnavigated the continent, continuing to build forts and trading posts. They also raided the coastal cities of Mombasa and Malindi, centers of international commerce, and took over the Arabs’ trade network in East Africa.

Since ancient times, East Africa housed slavery, and by the 1500s, cheap labor became extremely important to the Europeans and their colonial plantations, making the business expand physically and monetarily. Several African leaders, such as Affonso I, the ruler of Kongo, tried to slow down this transatlantic slave trade, but, despite their efforts, it continued.

** New African States Arise ** The African states were greatly affected by the slave trade, with some states completely vanishing, and new states, dependent on the slave trade, being born. Toward the end of the 17th century, Osei Tutu, a great military leader, assumed control of Kumasi, a trading city. He went onto conquer nearby states and unify the kingdom of the Asante. Under Tutu, the Asante kingdom developed a monopoly on gold mining and slave trade.

Due to the constant settlement of what is present-day Nigeria by the Yoruba, the Oyo empire came to being, and amassed an army using its profit from the slave trade.

** The European Presence Expands ** More European forts were built on Africa’s west coast by the 1600s began, and in 1652, the southern tip of the continent became the Dutch’s landing zone. There, they established the first permanent European-controlled community of Africa, Cape Town, as a port for expeditions to the East Indies. The surrounding area was settled by Boers, or Dutch farmers.

** The Atlantic Slave Trade ** Empires grew in the 1500s, and trade increased between the Americas and other parts of the world. Spain was the ﬁrst major power to import slaves into its South American colonies, but slave trade grew as other European powers established colonies. Slave labor became a way to gain greater proﬁts, but at the expense of millions of lives.

** Triangular Trade Across the Atlantic ** The trade of slaves became known as triangular trade, a series of Atlantic sea routes joining Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

**Shipping People and Goods** On the ﬁrst leg of the triangle, merchant ships brought European goods, such as guns and cloth, to Africa, where they were traded for slaves. On the second leg, known as the Middle Passage, slaves were brought to the Americas, where they were traded for sugar, molasses, and cotton from European-owned plantations. On the ﬁnal leg, these products were traded for other colonial goods, such as furs and salt ﬁsh, then shipped to Europe, where they were traded for European goods. media type="file" key="Travel_Across_the__Middle_Passage_.mov" width="360" height="360" align="left" ** Horrors of the Mid **** dle Passage ** The Middle Passage was a horrifying journey for Africans.

**The Trek to the Ships** Olaudah Equiano, who was sold into slavery as an 11-year-old in the 1750s, wrote of his experiences. During the Middle Passage, slaves were captured, bound, and forced to walk as much as a thousand miles. Many died on the way. Those who lived were restrained in holding pens in African port cities until European ships arrived.

**Aboard the “Floating Cofﬁns”** Once purchased, hundreds of Africans were crammed below deck for the three-week to three-month voyages. Some committed suicide. Many died from disease, brutality, or other dangers, like storms, pirate raids, and mutinies, or revolts, by captives trying to return home.

** Impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade ** The triangular trade continued, in part, because it was so profitable. It brought riches to merchants and traders, helped the colonial economies succeed, and helped European and American port cities grow. However, for Africans the outcome was devastating. African societies were torn apart, and lives were cut short or brutalized. By the mid-1800s, when the slave trade ﬁnally ended, an estimated 11 million Africans had been brought to the Americas, and another 2 million had died during the Middle Passage.