Essay On West African American Slave Trade

Transatlantic slave trade began when the Portuguese and other parts of Europe were able to expand their trade routes to Africa during the mid 15th century. The trade of slaves was very small, however after America and plantations were discovered, Europeans were seeking extra aid in labor due to the fact that the Americans and Europeans themselves were not sufficient. Slaves that were taken were mostly from states surrounding West Africa. Specifically, the Portuguese would use slaves in sugar plantations amongst other things that could benefit and expand their country. Several attempts were made by African rulers in order to stop and resist slave trades. During the late 17th century, the Portuguese were taking over slave trade routes, particularly in Europe. However, the English and French threatened the Portuguese, forcing them …show more content…
They were baptized in hopes to strengthen their relationships with the Portuguese. Their fluency in the language also aided in planning tactics directly with the people in power in Portugal. Nzinga was able to negotiate with the Portuguese and when the Portuguese did not follow through, she had to fight for her people. Unlike Nzinga, king Afonso negotiated slavery in a different way with the Portuguese, as he allowed them to take slaves that were captured by his kingdom. After doing so, both rulers wanted to expand their kingdoms and modernize it in order for them to be able to compete on an international trade level. They wanted to educated themselves further and their people so that their kingdom would be able to grow and in hopes to put an end to slavery in their region. Although Nzinga and Afonso had their minor failures, they both had a big impact in the history of slavery in Africa. Without their intelligence and love for their kingdom, the Portuguese would have had slavery spread across African regions at a much faster