Between the 16th and 19th centuries, many countries in Northern Africa were subject to what is now considered one of the largest human atrocities ever committed. A region along the coast as far north as Senegal and as far south as Angola had an estimated 12.5 million people removed from their populations and transported across the Atlantic to the Americas.
Triangular Trade
Slaves, cash crops, and manufactured goods transported between Europe, Africa, and the Americas
Voyages began in Europe, bringing weapons, metals, trinkets, and gunpowder to Africa
The cargo would be traded for slaves at ports and slaves would be transported to the Americas through the Middle Passage
Slaves were sold in the Caribbean and the American Colonies
The colonies then exported cash crops such as sugar and tobacco back to Europe
Detailed Triangular Trade by SupportStorm is in the Public Domain
The triangular trade system was key in the development of many European and American countries; however, this led to a lack of development in Africa. Slaves, which helped to create valuable goods, were exported and goods that lacked long-term value were imported. Weapons and gunpowder traded for slaves may have also influenced the number of wars in North Africa during this time period.
The End of the Slave Trade
March 3, 1807-Thomas Jefferson signs in an act approved by Congress to prohibit the importing of slaves into the United States
1850-Brazilian government begins to take action against slave traders
1866-Last reported transatlantic slave voyage
While much of the transatlantic slave trade took place prior to the 19th century, this was the time during which the slave trade finally ended. The graph below demonstrates that the slave trade was still continuing heavily during the 19th century despite the laws attempting to prevent it.
Click the image below for an interactive graph of the number of slaves embarked and disembarked per year during the slave trade.
Timeline: Number of Captives Embarked and Disembarked per Year by Emory University used under CC BY-NC
Effects of the Slave Trade
Africa lost millions of working men and women, and many future generations
It is estimated that the population in 1850 (25 million) would have been double if not for the slave trade
Many historians attribute the slave trade to a lack of development along the North African coast
Inhibited revolutions, such as the agrarian and industrial revolutions, from beginning
Africans lost on their end of the trade--received items with much less value for slaves
Encouraged war because many African slaves were prisoners of war
A weakened Africa was easier for Europe to colonize (Ross, 2007)
Inspection and Sale of a Slave by Brantz Mayer is in the Public Domain
While the short-term effects of the slave trade, such as loss of population and stagnated economic development were clear, the slave trade may have contributed to the long-term lack of development in North Africa.
Learn more about economics in North Africa
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Africa 1890 from Americanized Encyclopaedia Britannica is in the Public Domain
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The Suez Canal from Appleton's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art is in the Public Domain
References Emory University. (2013). Timeline: Number of Captives Embarked and Disembarked per Year. Retrieved from Slave Voyages. Liberated Africans. (2010). The Courts of Brazil. Ross, W. (2007, March 29). Slavery's Long Effects on Africa. Retrieved from BBC News. The Abolition Project. (2009). The Triangular Trade.