The Effects of the The Effects of the Transatlantic Slave Transatlantic Slave

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The Effects of the The Effects of the Transatlantic Slave Transatlantic Slave

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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. Depopulation1. 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

DepopulationDepopulation 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

DepopulationDepopulation 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. Violence2. 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. Economics3. 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.

EconomicsEconomics 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.

EconomicsEconomics 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.

EconomicsEconomics 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. Racism4. 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) 5. Sierra Leone (1787) & Liberia (1820s)& Liberia (1820s)

These two African countries were formed as settlements for ex-slaves.

The capital of Sierra Leone is Freetown

Effects on Europe

1. Economics1. 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

EconomicsEconomics 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

EconomicsEconomics 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 Power2. 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. Culture3. Culture Gained African culture:

Ideas Language Religion Views on gov’t Music Food Art Technology

4. Politics4. 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. Culture1. Culture Just as Europe

gained African culture, so did the Americas

Ideas Language Religion Views on gov’t Music Food Art Technology

CultureCulture

Many famous Black Americans – musicians, artists, writers, thinkers, politicians, athletes, etc. – are descended from Africans brought over as slaves.

2. Economics2. 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.

EconomicsEconomics Plantations were so

successful in part because:

1. Free labourers who could work in hot temps.

2. 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. Politics3. Politics Political effects

were both good and bad

Contributed to the cause of Civil War

New laws created

Abolition movement

ConclusionConclusion

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?