The Atlantic Slave Trade Summary

‘The Atlantic Slave Trade’ was authored by the Historian Herbert Klein in 1999 to account for the history of the Trans-Atlantic trade that saw thousands and thousands of African slaves across the sea to become property. The historian attempts to eliminate the myths that surround these events and the consequent misperceptions derived from them and accepted as facts across cultures. The facts that he presents are backed up by statistics and as such have a lot of weight. While his book is enlightening, it undermines the brutality of some events by giving a somewhat private account.
The book contains several mind-boggling observations throughout its writings. For instance, Klein observes that the sale of African for sales had little to do with the notion of the inferiority of their race. He asserts that it was a result of the market conditions of the ear that demanded a high amount of labor thus increasing the request (Klein, 18). Slave labor was a significant part of the developing global economy. He explains that European goods were highly demanded in Africa as well as other regions of the world and slaves were part of the capital
that Africans used so as to acquire the goods they needed. Since Europeans had the goods that Africans needed, and they required a massive amount of cheap labor for their industries, they worked with Africans as it was convenient for them to do so. The historian, therefore, succeeds in dispelling the myth of African inferiority, which developed at a later stage due to the racism attached to slavery. Their widespread use of the practice across America was justified with the notion that Africans were somewhat lesser people than the whites.
The historian also dispels the thought that it was the Europeans that separated the would-be slaves from their homes and loved ones. He establishes different facts such as the beginning of the practice and the numerous groups that sourced their slaves from the continent of Africa. the historian dates slavery to the period right after writing began (Klein, 7). Some African tribes had slaves awarded to them as a payment of debt or as captors of a conquered tribe. He also illustrates the activities of the Islamic world, which transferred slaves in their numerous trading caravans long before the advent of Europeans to the continent (Klein, 9). He also presents evidence of the use of slaves by Europeans from the Native American decent and Europeans from Native America.
The book also explores lesser-known facts on the slave trade. For instance, although the Europeans are widely blamed for the slave trade, the slaves they owned and bought were sold to them by Africans (Klein, 103). Because the practice had existed for a long time before the coming of the Europeans, it was not as detestable as it is today to both the Africans and Europeans of the time. Slavery was not regarded from a moral viewpoint during the era as it was a standard economic practice. The scale, however, changed dramatically after the colonization of the continent and the development of plantation agriculture. African merchants, as well as European slave traders, benefited primarily from slavery. The free labor that was provided allowed the colonizers to make massive profits on their goods while the African merchants were able to generate income, or use the slaves as a bargaining chip to acquire the goods for lower prices. Slavery became a subject of morality in the 19th century. The calls to bring the practice to an end abolished the importation of slaves into Britain and the United States, an act that caused several social and economic complications for Africans. The merchants could no longer generate income from the commodity and as such could not afford some of the European goods. With the lack of demand from without the continent, slavery boomed within Africa as the slaves were sold to African owners at low prices. Although the practice was abolished in Europe, it prevailed in Africa (Klein, 129).
Herbert Klein describes slave trade from a novel perspective that differs from other historical accounts.
As enlightening as the book is, some depictions of some events are questionable. One such event is the Middle Passage. Although his account does seem brutal mostly due to the events, he argues that they may not have been as gory as they have been described. He supports his claims by illustrating the statistics of the deaths that occurred during the journey were much fewer than those that died on their way to the ship (Klein, 130). The historian also argues against the tight packing of the slaves on the ship. He defends the claim by stating that the ships had to be light enough to travel across the sea as fast as possible and safe enough to ensure that the slaves remained alive long enough to be sold and to make a profit (Klein
132).
All in all, the author raises valid points on the Trans-Atlantic trade. The book is an apt account of history, backed up by data. The readers become well informed of the events and form a new perspective on the subject. He challenges us to abandon our preconceived notions and consider new stances.