Trans-Saharan Slave Trade

In the 15th century, West Africa was full of problems. Though there were positive sides, there was also negative sides. Doing more research led to learning that the negative sides overthrew the positive sides. Some trades that were involved at this time of period are the Trans-Saharan trade and Transatlantic trade. The difference between these two trades is the Trans-Saharan was for traveling across the Sahara to obtain gold, but the Trans-Atlantic trade was for capturing slaves. These slaves were forced into traveling on foot from Africa to the Western Hemisphere. These Slave Trades had a big impact on many countries, especially the ones in West Africa. Whether this Slave Trade had a negative or positive impact can be debateable. However, …show more content…
Getting guns increased the chance of West Africa wanting to start wars and arguments. There was not much for them to protect themselves when they got into trouble, but with the guns that were acquired, they weren’t as afraid as before. This is a negative side because West Africa already had problems and giving slaves in exchange for guns only made it easier for them to cause a war. A detail that supports this reason is when the Portuguese became involved with the Kingdom of Kongo. It is an African Kingdom located in West Central Africa that developed into christianity. The Portuguese and Kongo did not have much problems, but with one move (in this case, Portuguese threatening Kongo) can easily turn into a big problem. “Direct Portuguese trading [with provincial nobles] threatened to destroy Afonso’s hard-won position at the tip of the Kongo economic system” Hilton 1985: 58. This supports the thesis because this threat angered the Kongo. If the Kongo had guns, they would have easily started a war. However, they would not get guns without the slave trade. Another detail supporting the reason is the Trans-Atlantic trade. This trade was with the Europeans and Americans. Since this journey required going to two places, it is called the triangular trade because of the shape. This is a negative side because this trade is how it started …show more content…
However, they thought the only way to obtain these things were to trade slaves. Without hesitation, they traded the slaves. This supports the negative side because their desires blocked out what was going on in front of them and how there people were acting. Another detail is that the kingdoms of Kongo did try to refrain from trading slaves for goods, but their desires for the best of them “Afonso sought to restrict the trade by making it a royal monopoly. In frustration he abolished it by decree in 1526” Collins & Burns 2007: 184. The king of the Kongo tried to stop trading for goods, but was not able to. This is a negative side because trading Africans then made their society a problem. The population would decrease and taxation was involved. The decreased population made it a bit difficult to oppose to the Europeans when they colonized