How Did African Slave Trade Start

The African Slave Trade is the harsh movement from Africa to the New World. This began after the fall of Songhai 1590 CE. There were several reasons why the slave trade began. Death of Native Americans led to more demand for slaves. Production of wood, fur, coffee, tobacco, and sugar became reasons European countries rose power. They needed people to work for them to produce these products, SLAVES. They’re cheap and there were high demands for them. The Slave Trade began because of several reasons. Due to the rise of Portugal, Spain, and America, they had economic demand. Since Portugal and African kings traded, Portugal demands grew higher for more slaves, African kings refused. So, Portugal attacked the African and took all the people including the kings. This lead to The

Families were separated and were treated as property. There was little food and shelter, and the slaves had to work 16-18 hours a day. Even with diseases, there was zero medical attention. Most died from the horrific treatment. This new system was very cruel and dreadful.

Africans needed to preserve their culture and religion during the Slave Trade. Most revolted and fought back, others blended their culture and religion into Christianity. During these difficult times, some Africans successfully escaped, they were known as the Maroons. They were societies that escaped and live in the wilderness. They also kept their heritage through storytelling and music. This was the African’s response to the slave trade.

How did this affect the world today? Racism. This led to racism. Children were taught that Africans are at the bottom of the social pyramid, and the lighter skin, such as the Spanish were at the top. This is still like the social pyramid today. Darker skinned are still looked down upon and the lighter skinned are still considered the “higher class”. There shouldn’t be a difference in social class because of skin