The negative impact of the international slave trade on Africa was immense. It can be seen on the personal, family and continental levels. In addition to the millions of able-bodied individuals captured and transported, the death toll and the economic and environmental destruction resulting from wars and slave raids were disturbingly high. In the famines that followed military actions, the old and very young were often killed or left to starve. The most basic level of negative cultural impact lay in how slavery tore African family units apart. The trauma of losing young family members, people removed from the social frameworks that relied upon them to fulfill roles and provide continuity, took a toll on the affected regions. The relationships
