Atlantic Slave Trade example essay topic
347 words
The slave trade had high social costs. Throughout West Africa, the slave trade fostered warfare, skewed local economies, expanded servitude within the region, and distorted class and political structures. It slowed population growth and spread disease. The slave trade enhanced the power, prestige, and wealth of particular West African rulers, merchants, and states. It also contributed to economic stagnation and long-term political instability. The introduction of European guns reinforced political fragmentation, allowing particular states to grow at the expense of other states. Meanwhile, the flow of European textiles and manufactured goods undermined local West African industries. Despite the tremendous consequences of the Atlantic Slave Trade on Africa, Africans still continued to make important progress during this time in areas such as literacy, metalworking, and textile production. However, there is no doubt that the Atlantic Slave Trade changed the face of the earth in many ways and altered the way these societies ^a EUR~developed^aEURTM. A number of factors contributed to ending the Atlantic Slave Trade in the early 19th century. Among these was a growing revulsion against the slave trade. Another factor was the Industrial Revolution, which was fueling a growing demand for free rather than servile labor.
Many European and American industrialists who supported the slave trade in the 18th century changed their minds when slavery was no longer an economic benefit. In 1807, Britain became the first European nation to ban the slave trade. France, Holland, and the United States soon after passed legislation banning the slave trade. But slavery was not abolished in the United States until 1864. One might think that ending the slave trade would be beneficial for all Africans, but such was not the case. Many coastal groups had been exchanging humans for merchandise for centuries.
Their economies were geared to slave exporting, and they were dependent on the commodities they obtained for slaves. Many had little economic alternative to the slave trade, and for them the 19th century brought hard economic times.
