Slave Trade: History, Changes in Scope, and Challenges Faced by the Slaves

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The Triangular Trade
The transatlantic slave trade remains among the most significant prospects in the history of the world considering the impacts that it triggered in the socio-political and economic activities of the world. The transatlantic trade began in the 15th century with Portugal becoming the first European power to kidnap people from the west coast of African and transporting the victims to Europe. As the scramble for Africa and colonization took off, more European powers including Belgium, Germany, and Great Britain among others began participating in the slave trade. To the powers who participated in the trade, it was an opportunity to find cheap labor that they would transfer back to their countries. The perpetrators of the slave trade also believed that they were offering Africans the needed civilization, something for which Africans would pay by becoming slaves in European countries. Slave trade from Africa to Europe became lucrative and it began expanding to the Americas. Europe, Africa, and the Americas would eventually be engaged in the triangular trade. The developments in the transatlantic slave trade changed history especially with the ensuing abuse of human rights that it triggered on a global scale.
The Slave trade has a deep history that requires an understanding of the incidences at the time. During the 1400s and the 1500s, there was a rise in strong states within West Africa (Radburn and David 534). These kingdoms and states oversaw the rise of the slave trade even before the influx of Europeans. As the kingdoms expanded, they captured slaves who were taken to war and raids against the opposing groups. Some of the states allowed the slaves to gain their freedom upon recovering their value while most of them stayed as slaves till death. When the Europeans arrived, they considered slaves as property. They were supposed to be captured, bought, and sold for profit. With an existing structure of slavery in place, the Europeans eased their way through the purchase of slaves. Notably, not all the powerful African Kingdoms participated in the slave trade. Some Africans living in the interior assisted the Europeans in capturing and transporting slaves. They were given European-made weaponry and other items in exchange. Neighboring tribes were forced to participate or be enslaved. Native populations in various parts of Africa were substantially diminished during the slave trade era. Slave demand grew, and population losses hurt Africa's progress and prosperity.
Advancements in industrialization changed the scope of the slave trade considerably. After Columbus' 1492 discovery of the New World, the use of slaves in sugar production increased rapidly (Muhammad 885). He was looking for a westward route to the East Indies but instead came upon the Caribbean islands. There was no money, spices, or silk for Columbus to bring back to his royal backers in Spain, but he firmly pronounced the islands excellent for sugar cultivation. New distilled drinks (brandy, for example) appeared at the same time that European explorers were first starting to open the world's maritime routes, stretching around the southern tip of Africa to the east and crossing the Atlantic to establish the first links with the New World to the west. The activities were triggered with Portuguese explorers on Africa's west coast and the discovery and colonization of surrounding Atlantic islands, which served as the initial stepping stones to the Americas. The Atlantic islands of Madeira, Azores, and Canaries proved to be great locations for sugar production, but sugarcane cultivation required a lot of water and people. During the 1440s, when the Portuguese began to send African slaves from their commercial stations on Africa's west coast, that labor was easily accessible.
Slave trade involved phases in which different products and services were exchanged. In what grew to be known as the triangular trade, the first leg of the 3-part journey accompanied European ships bringing manufactured goods, weapons, and liquor to Africa (Muhammad 887). The goods would be used to entice Africans who captured their kins and rendered them into slavery. The goods brought from Europe were tools of the trade. The sec...