The Atlantic Slave Trade
Introduction
Considered the earliest interaction of the Atlantic, the slave trade was a critical interaction and perhaps the most capital-intensive. The slave trade entailed a massive intercontinental migration from Africa to Europe and the Americas, which represents the largest forced transportation of slaves from Africa before the history of the mid-1800s. Without a doubt, the interaction of the Atlantic during the slave trade resulted in numerous life-changing occurrences, especially resulting in the racial and cultural mixes that have become part of these societies up-to-date. According to Northrup (2017), this is because of the repopulation of the American societies by Africans who had been forced been forced to move from the home continent[1]. Consequently, the events that took place during the period of slave trade became so significant that they continue to influence the composition of today’s population in the Americas. Indeed, these are events that represent a great part of history and which the affected continents cannot run away from, as it reminds them where they came from and the role that the slave trade played in the interaction of the Atlantic during the 1800s.
According to Pieter Emmer (2016), after the 1500s, there was no way that Europe could have expanded successfully without involving slaves obtained through the slave trade. The expansion had been inhibited by the lack of sufficient migration to the tropics by the Europeans, who refused to migrate owing to the high rate of death that affected them extremely. It is because of this reason that more slaves were needed and effectively transported from Africa and Asia. At the tropical region, there was a relatively higher demand for more slaves owing to the large production of the export crops including coffee and sugar, as local slaves were limited in supply compared to the growing demand. With the demand for coffee and sugar among other export crops growing in Europe, it became necessary for the European shipping companies to source for and buy more slaves particularly on the African Atlantic shores. These slaves were bought and transported from Africa across the Atlantic and later sold to the New World where slave owners were waiting. This was effectively called the Atlantic slave trade as it involved ferrying slaves from the African Atlantic shores across the Atlantic Ocean (Emmer, 2016). The Atlantic slave trade is, therefore, one of the major events that involved massive intercontinental migration in the history of humanity.
The actual magnitude of the Atlantic slave trade cannot be visual enough without the incorporating the relevant numbers and percentages. First, a total of 12 million people from Africa had been forcibly transported from their home continent to Europe and the Americas between the 1500s and the year 1870. Of these 12 million slaves, about 10 million were taken to Brazil, which reported the largest proportion of the total number accounting for about 45 percent (4,864,374 slaves), France, Netherlands, Danish Caribbean and Britain, all accounting for about 37 percent of the total number of slaves[2]. The decision to forcefully ferry slaves from Africa to the other two continents was informed by three critical reasons. With each situated in a different continent, these three reasons were largely responsible for shaping both the supply and demand for slaves and how they were transported across the Atlantic Ocean. In fact, the transportation of slaves from Africa through the Atlantic Ocean became one of the largest human migrations that happened between the 16th century and the 19th century, and which later led to the dramatic change in the original ethnic composition in most of the areas in the New World whose populations were affected.
The first reason that explained the high demand and resulting in the high supply of slaves across the Atlantic was the increasing demand for cheap labor, especially in the New World. This followed the significant rapid decline of the indigenous Amerindian people, which was estimated to be at 40 percent of the total original population following the arrival of the first group of explorers from Europe. Their arrival signified the importation of the diseases such as scarlet fever, flu as well as common cold affecting the Old World. Owing to their low or now immunity, many indigenous Amerindians were adversely affected by these common diseases, which led to a significant decline in this particular population. Effectively, there was a need to source for slaves from the Atlantic Slave trade as a way of replacing those who supplied labor in the declining population. The second reason was European-related where Europeans value one another and thus could not enslave people from their own continent. Although there were captives obtained by the English side following the religious and civil wars and later sent to the American countries as slaves, their numbers were quite negligible compared to the growing demand for more slaves in the region (Emmer, 2016). As a result, more slaves had to be sourced from other areas, which led to their invasion of Africa through the Atlantic Ocean where the largest slave trade took place.
The final reason was related to the African continent and particularly the tendency to have the trade involving slaves generally accepted among the Africans. In fact, the trade was so much widespread and accepted in the Western region that organized markets for slaves already existed in this particular region[3]. In fact, in these markets, there were brokers whose primary role was to act as the link between the potential buyers of African slaves and the slaves themselves. The fact that slave trade had been in existence for many years long before the Atlantic slave trade made it easier for those taking part in the slave trade to invade the region and obtain slaves in order to meet the labor-related needs. Indeed, with that understanding, the Europeans taking part in the slave trade decided to offer more in a bid to attract as many slaves as possible to meet their demand of cheap labor in the New World (Emmer, 2016). Therefore, the combination of these three reasons each from a different continent contributed significantly towards the rise of the trading of slaves at the Atlantic interaction in such huge numbers.
The economic aftermath of the Atlantic slave trade was not only felt in the European and American continents but also in the African Continent particularly in the western coastal region. Much of the focus has been on the volume, demographic, social and economic impact and other aspects associated with the events of the Atlantic slave trade. However, the slave trade also contributed significantly towards the economic development of the coastal region, which played a huge role as a source of slaves. For instance, the slave trade contributed towards the development of the port system in the Atlantic African coats and other port sub-systems in the region[4]. Politically, the events of the Atlantic slave trade had an influential impact on numerous institutions in the affected towns and villages, especially the political institutions. For instance, the precolonial period saw a serious political fragmentation among most ethnic groups living in villages and towns that reported high levels of slave export through the Atlantic Ocean. The political fragmentation was so important and influential that it played a significant role in terms of economic development in the region as well as when it comes to shaping the political institutions as they are today[5].
Conclusion
The overall analysis of the Atlantic slave trade as an important event of human history shows that the trade was a critical interaction affecting the transatlantic region. As a massive intercontinental migration from Africa to Europe as well as the Americas, the Atlantic certainly represented the largest forced transportation of slaves from Africa before the history of the mid-1800s. In fact, the transportation of slaves from Africa through the Atlantic Ocean became one of the largest human migrations that happened between the 16th century and the 19th century, and which later led to the dramatic change in the original ethnic composition in most of the areas in the New World whose populations were affected. The interaction of the Atlantic during the slave trade resulted in numerous life-changing occurrences, especially resulting in the racial and cultural mixes that have become part of these societies up-to-date. To the African continent as a source of these slaves, the Atlantic slave trade brought about the economic development in the region and effectively shaped the political institutions as they are today.