Why Did Europeans Come To West Africa

Slavery was not originally decided on skin color, nor was it coined by British settlers. No country was originally looking to enslave savage foreigners. In fact, a form of slavery similar to Serfdom already existed in Europe by the time Africa was discovered. It was much different compared to the idea of slavery we hold today. This type of slavery offered freedom in exchange for services instead of being bound to a lifelong ownership. Marriage, land owning, and the ability to have slaves of their own were all granted to these slaves. Aside from working for someone else, they were almost like the average working class. Even after the discovery of Africa, the belief that those who were dark skinned were doomed to serve for the rest of their lives …show more content…
The idea of taking Africans from their home country was not even started by the British. The section “Europeans Come to Western Africa” credits the first arrival to Africa by the Portuguese. These explorers were allowed to set up trade posts along the coast to trade resources and eventually slaves. Africans were captured and kidnapped in raids, forcibly taken from their tribes to be exchanged for items such as weapons and materials. The section “The African Salve Trade and the Middle Passage” provides greater detail of what the Africans experienced as they were taken from their country. No mind was paid to who these men that they were taking were. Families were torn apart. Women, men, and children were taken. Some were considered nobility to their tribe, but no longer did this matter once they were captured. All slaves were equal in the idea that they could be put to work. Those who did not make the journey to the trading posts were left to die of fatigue while survivors faced a more difficult journey on their arrival. Crossing land was one thing, crossing the sea was a much different and more challenging journey. The transportation of slaves to other countries was referred to as “The Middle Passage”. Since these ships lacked our modern technology, traveling across the Atlantic could take two to four months. During the journey many horrors occurred in the holds of the ships.