Were African merchants consented partners or victims

of the slave trade?

● Before Europeans came, Africans already took part in slavery, although at a domestic and less
violent scale
● Over the centuries, there has been much dispute over the ways in which Africans participated in
the European slave trade
○ Slave traders used to feel justified in their use of African
merchants because they believed that if the Africans didn’t do
business with Europeans, other groups would have jumped at
the chance to do it with them anyway
○ Modern historians now believe that what really happened isn’t
as innocent as the traders make it seem

● It is now believed that Europeans used aggression and violence to make

African merchants comply with their slave business
Slave Raiding
● The Europeans were abducting Africans and turning them into slaves
○ Would sell them to places like Europe and America
● Cronica dos Feitos da Guine was one of the few people recorded who
was celebrated for this operation?
● The so-called "roving" trade - in which slaving ships sailed along the
coast and captured slaves at various places until they had a full
consignment.
● Africans were determined to fight against enslavement resulting in
the massacre in 1446 of almost all the members from the expedition
led by Nuno Tristäo
The transition to slave trading
● To keep in business, the Portugese
instilled to a new practice, slave trading
○ The "roving" trade - when slaving
ships sailed along the coast and
captured slaves until they had a full
shipload
● Even so, slave raiding was still practiced
● Europe built forts along coastline to
instil fear in the African population
○ They dominated and manipulated
the trade force to receive the
benefits
○ Became a one sided relationship
between Europe and Africa
 People in Africa had to take part in the slave trade or risk becoming a slave
themselves. (Paragraph 8-10, Theodora)

States along the coast that already had established trade, including trading slaves, with the
outside world were quicker and more ready to join the Atlantic slave trade. In order to stay
strong, African states, such as Dahomey, had to raid other kingdoms and take people to sell as
slaves to gain resources and prevent their own people from being taken. This turned into a
vicious cycle of raiding and slave trading.
 Slave Trade in States

● The states with more connections and

relations to the outside world were
more quickly involved with the slave
trade than lineage societies.
● Because of their connections and
resources, they were also able to trade
other goods and advance their trading
because of the value of slaves and the
transatlantic demand for slaves.
● States bordering the Sahel were Map of the Sahel Region
already participating in the slave trade.

Ruby M. 8-11
 Slave Trade in Lineage Societies

● In the lineage societies, servitude was

not based on obtaining slaves by force,
but based on criminals and misfits in
their society.
● Lineage societies also did not have as
many connections to the outside so they
did not have enough resources to join
the slave trade.
● Because of the rising demand for slaves,
rulers or people of authority from these
linage societies had to decide who was
condmend into being sold for slavery.
● In Arochukwu, the supreme deity had to
make this decision. The city of Arochukwu
Ruby M. 8-11
Africans and the abolition of the slave trade
Although originally African leaders took
part in assisting the slave trade, they
ended up having a big impact in ending it.
One of the ways Africans influenced the
end of the slave trade is through writing.
Many scholarly authors wrote influential
books such as, Thoughts and Sentiments
on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of Slavery
by Ottobah Cuguano. Some movements
that aided the abolilition of the slave
trade were the Back to Africa movement
and Maroon societies. The transition into
selling other legal goods was easier since
these systems were already in place.
 Who Was Responsible?
● The Europeans were largely responsible, but African merchants and states
played a role as well.
○ Modern historians believe that they were forced into helping the Europeans, and it wasn’t as fair and
consensual as it once seemed
○ Europeans also gained the biggest benefit from the slave trade (a very large profit)
● One way Europeans used force was by raiding cities and capturing people (especially on the coast)
○ This is how the Atlantic slave trade was started
● They then transitioned to trading and Africans had to participate in the slave trade or face the
consequences
○ In order to stay strong and protect their own people from being taken, African states took other kingdom's people and sold
them as slaves.
● State and lineage societies responded differently to the trade because of differences in resources and
connections
● African leaders were impactful in the abolition of the trade, particularly in writing and social
movements