The Impact of Slave Trade on African Economy

What were the impacts of the slave trades on Africa? Explore political, social, and economic dimensions. Did you agree with Walter Rodney et al that impact was significant caused stagnation and underdevelopment or Joseph Miller that it was not devastating?

Slavery and the slave trade are ancient practices that can be traced back more than two

th millennia in Africa. During the 19 century, the trans­Atlantic slave trade radically impaired

Africa’s potential to develop economically and maintain its social and political stability. Millions of Africans were forcefully sold and transported to Europe and the America’s as slaves.
According to lectures in class by Professor Lumumba, by my understanding, the primary goal of relocating Africans into Europe and the America’s was part of a global economic enterprise. This commerce spread from the Western coast of Africa to the rest of the continent; from the islands of Goreé and Saint­Louis, in current Senegal to Quelimane in present Mozambique. The trade affected lives of millions of diverse Africans coming from regions such as Senegamba, Sierra
Leone, West­Central Africa, South­East Africa, the Bight of Benin, the Gold Coast, and the
Bight of Biafra. Moreover, it started the systemic and continuous process of economic exploitation and social and political fragmentation that Europeans later institutionalized through colonization. Politically, the Atlantic trade led to the formation of semi­ feudal classes in Africa.
To know that there were Africans who associated themselves with Europeans to sanction the oppression of their own people raised a question. Was it a strategic way of profiting from trade?
The fragmented political structure was related to a general state of insecurity that facilitated enslavement. These men usually would make substantial gains from the trade. Despite that
Europeans were the ones who benefited from the trade the most. Economically, the Atlantic

slave trade on Africa varied according to time and geographical context; trade was taking place from I believe; Senegal, the Coast, and Upper Nigeria. Africans from the interior would trade in
European products, such as iron, cotton, textiles and some of their own kind. And in return, they would get machinery. “Weapons of mass destruction”.After a couple years, the population expanded which generally shows the economically and demographically benefits from the trade.
Although the Africans profited from a trade in human beings, I believe the trade had a negative impact because the simple fact of the Europeans raiding, capturing, and torturing Africans from the Coast. Compared to any individuals mental state in the modern world, Africans who were not involved in the trade felt like they were prevented from doing business in peace and security due to the thought of being kidnapped and sold. Socially,