The Atlantic slave trade and its devastating impact on African civilization

¶ … Harmony to Holocaust

The Portuguese reached the Gold Coast of Africa in 1439. At first, they were impressed with the culture they found. As they worked their way down the coast "[t]hey found people of varying cultures. Some lived in towns ruled by kings with nobility and courtiers very much like the medieval societies they left behind them." (Obadina). Many years later, a visitor from Holland was equally impressed and records his impressions of Benin City in 1600: "As you enter it, the town appears very great. You go into a great broad street, not paved, which seems to be seven or eight times broader than the Warmoes Street in Amsterdam... The houses in this town stand in good order, one close and even with the other, as the houses in Holland stand..." (qtd. In Obadina). Clearly, at this early stage, the Europeans had a fairly positive view of the African cultures. True, they probably considered them somewhat exotic. But the feeling is that they also considered them "dignified and equal parties in civilization." (Hooker).

Slave Exports from Africa on the Trans-Atlantic Route

Time

Number of Percentage

Period

Slaves of Total

1450-1500

1500-1600

1601-1700

1701-1800

1801-1900

Had these initial impressions been sustained, the history of the world (most especially Africa) would have been much different. However, the Atlantic Slave Trade did occur, subjecting the continent to four centuries of depredation. Moreover, the intensity of the suffering endured by the African people should be described nothing short of a Holocaust ("The Maafa"). The following tables provide some figures to put all of this into perspective. Although sterile and removed from the stark reality of the horror these men, women and children experienced, they do bear out the vast extent of the crime against Africa. Consider both the sheer number of slaves transferred ("Origins"), as well as the extent of the African continent which was affected ("The Trans-Atlantic") - both of which are depicted on the nearby tables.

Trans-Atlantic Imports by Region (1450-1900)

Region of Number of Percentage

Origin

Slaves of Total

Senegambia

Upper Guinea

Windward Coast

Gold Coast

Blight of Benin

Blight of Biafra

West Central

South East

Africanist vs. Afrocentric Point-of-View

Faced with these figures, one finds it hard to remain completely 'objective' in the classical sense of the term. This is particularly the case considering the even higher range of human loss when indirect deaths are included in these figures. Remember that many thousands perished on the slave ships, during the tribal warfare, on the forced marches, in the holding pens, and as a result of the famines (which resulted from the devastating slave raids). If all of these casualties are included, the final figures could reach as high as 200 million (Obadina). Recognizing these facts, this paper will analyze the Atlantic Slave Trade from an Afrocentric point-of-view rather than from either a Eurocentric or even Africanist perspective. In other words, this paper will "make little or no apology for presenting material from an African perspective or for identifying emotionally with African history." ("Conversations"). For example, the type of mistake made by Henry Louis Gates in his "Wonders of the African World" series (where he compares Ethiopian kings of Africa to Knights of the Round Table in Europe) will not be repeated here. Instead the paper will "seek to present an insider's perspective which more overtly embraces an African identity." ("Conversations").

The Effect of the Atlantic Slave Trade on African Culture (in General)

The impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade on specific cultures will be detailed below. For now, it is important to understand how African culture in general was impacted. And certainly, continental trading patterns were early victims of the slave trade. From early days, trading had been initiated and controlled by the Arabs from the north and east. However, after 1550 (when the Europeans started to quicken the pace of discovery), the routes changed their orientation "from the Sahara to the seacoast, and as the states of the savanna declined in economic importance, states along the coast increased their wealth and power. Struggles developed among coastal peoples for control over trade routes and access to new European firearms." ("Part III"). The effect of this shift then affected the nature of migration patterns. Tribes and cultures that lived in the coastal regions moved inland in an effort to avoid slave-raiding parties looking for human booty. This resulted in a redistribution of populations within the continent ("Part III").

The transformation which occurred in African society was revealed by Olaudah Equiano, an ex-slave who wrote of his experiences. In his description of how slaves were obtained, he reveals the level to which ruling chieftains had stooped in their attempt to ingratiate themselves with the Europeans (qtd. In Obadina):

When a trader wants slaves, he applies to a chief for them, and tempts him with his wares. It is not extraordinary, if on this occasion he yields to the temptation with as little firmness, and accepts the price of this fellow creature liberty with as little reluctance, as the enlightened merchant. Accordingly, he falls upon his neighbours, and a desperate battle ensues...if he prevails and takes prisoners, he gratifies his avarice by selling them."

African rulers had become part of an endless cycle at this point. They were being used by the Europeans (who took little risk, themselves) and being forced to do all of the difficult tasks. The Europeans would provide the firearms, the Africans would send out raiding parties at the risk of their fellow tribe members, and then trade the captured slaves in for what ever the Europeans had to offer. By the nature of the arrangement, the chiefs now had a vested interest in keeping the slave trade alive. And they were further drawn to this arrangement because:

c]ontact with Europe opened new images of the world for the African elite and presented them with products of a civilization which as the centuries passed became more technologically differentiated from their own. The slave trade whetted their appetite for the products of a changing world." (Obadina).

The abolitionist Thomas Buxton wrote in 1840 about this "crux of the African condition." He made crystal clear to his audience that Africans had fallen into a trap laid by the Europeans. As Africans received more good from Europe, this familiarity created the desire to continue enjoying the fruits of this civilization. Soon these material goods became essential to ordinary life in Africa (at least psychologically speaking). The end result was clear? "To say that the African, under present circumstance, shall not deal in man, is to say he shall long in vain for his accustomed gratification." (Obadina). Buxton was saying, in essence, that African rulers had become almost addicted to the pleasures of the European life-style. Like a drug user in withdraw, they would be willing to do anything to obtain that which they desired.

The observations made by Tunde Obadina above are echoed in "The Maafa: A Holocaust of Greed." In this reading, the situation on the African continent resulting from the slave trade is described as one of pure chaos. Kingdoms would rise and fall depending on how well they filled the individual 'slave-quotas' dictated by the Europeans. Cultural continuity was almost a contradiction in terms as established groups would pass from the scene in quick succession, one after the other. So to ask if the African cultures were affected by the slave trade is go about understanding this situation in completely the wrong way. The effect was a given. Better to ask exactly how much damage was done to African culture as a result of the trade in Africans. This much is clear, the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was "an event which destroyed peoples and whole cultures, an event which would destabilize a continent, changing it forever."

African Complicity?

Inevitably in a discussion of the Atlantic Slave Trade, the question regarding the complicity of African rulers in the entire process is raised. True, slavery did exist in all areas of Africa long before the Europeans arrived on the scene. In fact, in certain areas, the Europeans had an easy time garnering cargo because they could readily draw upon already extant supply routes ("Part II"). However, this attempt by white, Eurocentric cultures to place the blame on blacks does not hold up under any type of sustained scrutiny. Chattel slavery, the type found in the New World, was nothing like that which had existed on the home continent. In Africa, "indigenous slavery was relatively a marginal aspect of traditional African societies. Many forms of servitude and slavery were relatively benign..." ("Part II").

Also the Eurocentric viewpoint fails to take into consideration that slavery in Africa was almost completely "a demand-driven market out of Europe and America, not a supply-driven market out of Africa. We did not seek to sell captives to the Whites as an original act." (Beard). In essence, had there been no need for slaves on the European end, there would not have been chattel slavery.

The Problem Remains the Same

Tunde Obadina states the situation well when he complains that the problems of slavery hundreds of years ago still exist today. He does not refer to the slave trade itself, however. Instead, he indicates that the people who today run many of the African governments are shortchanging the people that actually live in the countries. In his words, "[t]he selfishness and disregard for the welfare of fellow humans manifest in the sacking of national resources by modern African leaders also motivated the pillaging of the human resources of the continent in times past." Too often the leaders of modern African governments have their own interests in mind rather than the good of the country and the larger society. The wealth obtained by selling slaves centuries ago was wasted on consumption goods and instant gratification. Clearly there were better uses for it. "Africa's contemporary history may have been different had its rulers and traders demanded capital goods for use in building the economy rather than trinkets and booze." These are the lessons for contemporary African leaders (Obadina).