Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Essay

The trans-Atlantic slave trade in pre-colonial Africa had immense repercussions on the continent’s state formation and the political culture that developed. This triangle trade, as it is often referred to as, began in Europe. Europeans needed raw materials from the colonies in the America’s in order to keep their economy stable. When the Americans did not produce these materials fast enough, or in large enough quantities, there was a call for slaves. Enslaving Africans fulfilled this need. All in all, the trans-Atlantic slave trade would start in Africa, where the slaves were, then they would be shipped to the Americas to work on the plantations, then the raw materials would be shipped to Europe where they would produce goods hat would be sold back to the Americas and Africa. The slave trade was the match that started the fire when it came to the power struggle between affluent Africans.
Instead of foreign rulers enslaving Africans, people of their own race were enslaving each other. This was done in numerous ways. The
most frequent way was through the raid of villages. Neighboring communities would attack each other and enslave their men, women, and children in an effort to protect their own. The more slaves they produced, the more goods they received from Europe. In particular, African’s were given weapons so they could conquer more villages, thereby producing more slaves, and also to protect themselves from being conquered. Since the slave trade was fueling the economies of some African communities, people had no choice but to capture and sell their family, friends, and neighbors to strangers if they wanted to survive. Millions of people, mostly young men, were captured and shipped off to the America’s to work as slaves. The vast quantity of people being taken from Africa decimated local populations. People who once held vital roles in their community were enslaved, leaving those positions unfilled, and a society who could not functions properly. The loss of potential workers also hindered the economic growth of these communities. Without young men to help village progress, societies suffered. This created a fragmentation not only between villages, but also within communities. Instead of forming together to create a larger state, as the natural progression of the formation of states entails, the relationships between villages were destroyed and the population growth was non-existent. The increases of weapons in African societies lead to an increase of overly aggressive warfare as an acceptable part of daily life. The insecurity that was created by the Europeans and perpetuated by the Africans during the time of the slave trade lead to a fragmentation amongst ethnic groups can be seen still today in many parts of Africa.
The instability allowed for warlords or other non-official governments to replace the existing governments that the communities once respected.
In some cases, people would become enslaved when they were accused of a crime. Rather than having to endure a punishment for their actions, enslavement became the new repercussion. Leaders would often enslave their own as a form of tribute in order to protect their communities from being raided. This caused extreme levels of mistrust from the communities of the legal system and the government as a whole. The political and legal corruption that took place during the trans-Atlantic slave trade can be seen as one of the main reasons for African underdevelopment by today’s standards. Mistrust, aggression, and fragmentation that resulted from the trans-Atlantic slave trade led to the instability in Africa that hindered the continents ability to properly form states and governments that would benefit the
people.