Similarities and Differences That Took Place in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central and South America as an Outcome of European Contact

Topics: Caribbean, Africa, South America Pages: 2 (448 words) Published: July 22, 2013
The Europeans had great influence on the many areas it contacted. Much of this contact and colonization was done in the 16th through 18th centuries in regions that were apart of the Atlantic Ocean trading system. Due to European contact, Africa and the Americas both underwent changes that were similar and different.

Parts of the Sub-Saharan Africa continent were greatly affected by the Europeans. Unlike the Americas, however, people from Europe did not colonize in Africa. This was because of the African governments along the Gold and Slave coasts. The Europeans recognized that they had great power and strong African trading customs. These factors prevented them from colonizing, which is opposite of what happened in the Americas. Although Europeans were not willing to colonize in Africa, they were interested in trading with their peoples. Gold was one of Africa’s exports, with slaves being the most important. Most slaves that were traded by African kings and merchants were prisoners of war. They were traded in return for textiles, hardware, and guns. However, as the demand for slaves rose so did the price the Europeans had to pay for them. The overall effect that European contact had on Sub-Saharan Africa was beneficial for both Europeans and Africans. This type of contact was not of colonization, like with the Americas, but of new trading networks.

The Europeans had a much different type of contact with Central and South America. Contrasting the results of European contact in Africa, colonization took place in America. During colonization that began in the 17th century, slaves were brought in from Africa. While the Europeans exported slaves in Africa, they were imported in the Americas. This is one of the many differences between European contact in these regions. Another is the fact that while Africa maintained control of their continent, the Europeans took over the Americas and created new colonies. Of the many colonies established, Northeastern Brazil was...
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