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African Slave Trade




The Slave Trade in Africa has existed for thousands of years. The first main route passed through The Sahara , tying in to the Arab Slave Trade . After the European Age Of Exploration , African slaves became part of the Atlantic Slave Trade , from which comes the modern, Western conception of Slavery as an institution of African-descended slaves and non-African slave owners. Despite its illegality, slavery Continues In All Parts Of The World , including Africa.

Elikia M’bokolo, April 1998, , another four million through the Swahili ports of the Indian Ocean , perhaps as many as nine million along the Trans-Saharan caravan route, and eleven to twenty million (depending on the author) across the Atlantic Ocean " The impact of the slave trade on Africa


SLAVERY WITHIN AFRICA


In most African societies, there was very little difference between the free peasants and the feudal vassal peasants. Vassals of the Songhay Empire were used primarily in agriculture; they paid tribute to their masters in crop and service but they were slightly restricted in custom and convenience. These non-free people were more an occupational Caste , as their Bondage was relative.1.

There is adequate evidence citing case after case of African control of segments of the trade. Several African nations such as the Ashanti of Ghana and the Yoruba of Nigeria had economies largely depending on the trade. African peoples such as the Imbangala of Angola and the Nyamwezi of Tanzania would serve as intermediaries or roving bands warring with other African nations to capture Africans for Europeans. Extenuating circumstances demanding exploration are the tremendous efforts European officials in Africa used to install rulers agreeable to their interests. They would actively favor one African group against another to deliberately ignite chaos and continue their slaving activities.2.

Slavery in the rigid form which existed in Europe and throughout the New World was not practiced in Africa nor in the - some even rose to the status of kings (e.g. Jaja Of Opobo and Sunni Ali Ber ). Similar arguments were used by Western slave owners during the time of abolition, for example by John Wedderburn in '' Wedderburn V. Knight '', the case that ended legal recognition of slavery in Scotland in 1776. Regardless of the legal options open to slave owners, rational cost-earning calculation and/or voluntary adoption of moral restraints often tended to mitigate (except with traders, who preferred to weed out the worthless weak individuals) the actual fate of slaves throughout history.

In Senegambia , between 1300 and 1900, close to one-third of the population was enslaved. In early Islamic states of the western Sudan, including Ghana (750-1076), Mali (1235–1645), Segou (1712–1861), and Songhai (1275-1591), about a third of the population were slaves. In Sierra Leone in the 19th century about half of the population consisted of slaves. In the 19th century at least half the population was enslaved among the Duala of the Cameroon , the Igbo and other peoples of the lower Niger , the Kongo , and the Kasanje kingdom and Chokwe of Angola . Among the Ashanti and Yoruba a third of the population consisted of slaves. The population of the Kanem (1600–1800) was about a third-slave. It was perhaps 40% in Bornu (1580–1890). Between 1750 and 1900 from one- to two-thirds of the entire population of the Fulani Jihad states consisted of slaves. The population of the Sokoto caliphate formed by Hausas in the northern Nigeria and Cameroon was half-slave in the 19th century. It is estimated that up to 90% of the population of Arab - Swahili Zanzibar was enslaved. Roughly half the population of Madagascar was enslaved. Welcome to Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Black History Slow Death for Slavery - Cambridge University Press Digital History Slavery Fact Sheets Tanzania - Stone Town of Zanzibar Fulani slave-raids Central African Republic: History


Slavery in Songhay

In most African societies, there was very little difference between the free peasants and the feudal vassal peasants. Vassals of the Songhay Empire were used primarily in agriculture; they paid tribute to their masters in crop and service but they were slightly restricted in custom and convenience. These people were more an occupational caste, as their bondage was relative.
In the Bornu Empire , vassals were three classes beneath the nobles. Marriage between captor and captive was far from rare, blurring the anticipated roles.3.


Slavery in Ethiopia

issued a procamation outlawing slavery. Chronology of slavery

Slavery in North Africa

The were enslaved for so many centuries that the very name 'slave' derived from their name; not only in English, but in other European languages and in Arabic. How To Reboot Reality — Chapter 2, Labor

Mamluks were a Slave Soldiers who converted to Islam and served the Muslim Caliph s and the Ayyubid sultans during the Middle Ages . The first mamluks served the Abbasid caliphs in 9th Century Baghdad . Over time they became a powerful military Caste , and on more than one occasion they seized power for themselves, for example, ruling Egypt in the Mamluk Sultanate from 1250-1517. From 1250 Egypt had been ruled by the Bahri Dynasty of Kipchak Turk origin. White slaves from the Caucasus served in the army and formed an elite corp of troops eventually revolting in Egypt to form the Burgi Dynasty . The Mamluk (Slave) Dynasty (Timeline)

According to Robert Davis between 1 million and 1.25 million Europeans were captured by Barbary Pirates and sold as Slaves to North Africa and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 19th Centuries . The coastal villages and towns of Italy , Spain and Mediterranean Islands were frequently attacked by them and long stretches of the Italian and Spanish coasts were almost completely abandoned by its inhabitants; after 1600 Barbary pirates occasionally entered the Atlantic and struck as far north as Iceland . The most famous corsairs were the Ottoman Barbarossa ("Redbeard"), and his older brother Oruç , Turgut Reis (known as Dragut in the West), Kurtoğlu (known as Curtogoli in the West), Kemal Reis , Salih Reis and Koca Murat Reis . In 1551, Dragut enslaved the entire population of the Maltese island Gozo , between 5,000 and 6,000, sending them to Libya . Barbary pirates frequently attacked the Balearic Islands , resulting in many coastal watchtowers and fortified churches being erected. The threat was so severe that Formentera became uninhabited. Many of the Barbary pirates, including Jan Janszoon and John Ward , were renegade Christians who had converted to Islam . ''When Europeans were slaves: Research suggests white slavery was much more common than previously believed'' BBC - History - British Slaves on the Barbary Coast Jefferson Versus the Muslim Pirates by Christopher Hitchens, City Journal Spring 2007 Davis, Robert. ''Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast and Italy, 1500-1800''.[http://www.amazon.com/Christian-Slaves-Muslim-Masters-Mediterranean/dp/1403945519]


SLAVES TAKEN FROM AFRICA


Trans Saharan trade

Main article Arab Slave Trade

The very earliest external s to serve as guardians to the Harems .5 The Moroccan Sultan Moulay Ismail "the Bloodthirsty" (1672-1727) raised a corps of 150,000 black slaves, called his Black Guard , who coerced the country into submission. Lewis. Race and Slavery in the Middle East. Oxford Univ Press 1994.


Indian Ocean trade


The trade in slaves across the Indian Ocean also has a long history beginning with the control of sea routes by Arab traders in the ninth century. It is estimated that only a few thousand slaves were taken each year from the Red Sea and Indian Ocean coast. They were sold throughout the Middle East and India . This trade accelerated as superior ships led to more trade and greater demand for labour on Plantation s in the region. Eventually, tens of thousands per year were being taken.Fage, J.D. ''A History of Africa''. Routledge, 4th edition, 2001. pg. 258

. David Livingstone; Christian History Institute The blood of a nation of Slaves in Stone Town BBC Remembering East African slave raids Zanzibar

Some sources estimate that between 11 and 17 million slaves crossed the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Sahara Desert from 650 to 1900. The Unknown Slavery: In the Muslim world, that is -- and it's not over The Forgotten Holocaust: The Eastern Slave Trade


Atlantic Ocean trade

Main article Atlantic Slave Trade

The Atlantic Slave Trade developed much later, but it would eventually be by far the largest and have the greatest impact. The first Europeans to arrive on the coast of Guinea were the Portuguese ; the first European to actually buy slaves in the region was Antão Gonçalves , a Portuguese explorer. Originally interested in trading mainly for Gold and Spice s, they set up colonies on the uninhabited islands of Sao Tome . In the 16th century the Portuguese settlers found that these volcanic islands were ideal for growing Sugar . Sugar growing is a labour-intensive undertaking and Portuguese settlers were difficult to attract due to the heat, lack of infrastructure, and hard life. To cultivate the sugar the Portuguese turned to large numbers of African slaves. Elmina Castle on the Gold Coast , originally built by African labor for the Portuguese in 1482 to control the gold trade, became an important depot for slaves that were to be transported to the New World .John Henrik Clarke. ''Critical Lessons in Slavery & the Slavetrade''. A & B Book Pub

In 1452, Pope Nicholas V issued the Papal Bull Dum Diversas , granting Afonso V Of Portugal the right to reduce any "Saracens, pagans and any other unbelievers" to hereditary slavery. This approval of slavery was reaffirmed and extended in his Romanus Pontifex bull of 1455. These papal bulls came to serve as a justification for the subsequent era of slave trade and european colonialism.

Increasing penetration into the Americas by the Portuguese created more demand for labour in Brazil --primarily for Farming and Mining . To meet this demand, a trans-Atlantic slave trade soon developed. Slave-based economies quickly spread to the Caribbean and the southern portion of what is today the United States . These areas all developed an insatiable demand for slaves.

As European nations grew more powerful, especially Portugal , Spain , France and England , they began vying for control of the African slave trade, with little effect on the local African and Arab trading. Great Britain's existing colonies in the Lesser Antilles and their effective naval control of the Mid Atlantic forced other countries to abandon their enterprises due to inefficiency in cost. The English crown provided a charter giving the Royal African Company monopoly over the African slave routes until 1712.http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/blackhistory/africa_caribbean/britain_trade.htm


WHY AFRICAN SLAVES?

  In Addition, The Majority Of The Slaves Being Taken To The Americas Were Male So While The Slave Trade Created An Immediate Drop In The Population, Its Long Term Effects Were Less Drastic{{cite Weburl http://wwwafricanholocaustnet/news_ah/african%20holocausthtmpublisher=" Owen 'Alik Shahadah "title="African Holocaust: Dark Voyage audio CD"}