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Africa: 1450- 1750 Unit 4 Section 1

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First European Contacts Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal sowed the seeds of tremendous change for Africa in the early to mid-1400s He and his men cautiously explored farther and farther south along Africas west coast Following their conquest of the Moroccan city of Ceuta in 1450, the Portuguese became intensely curious to discover the origins of the gold and slaves were brought to North Africa via well established trade routes from the continents sub-Saharan interior They also sought to spread Christianity to any lands they might discover, and counteract the expansion of the rising Ottoman Empire These economic, religious, and political motives combined with European advances in maritime technology during the 15 th century to spur the Portuguese to reach the southern tip of Africa before the centurys end Along the way, they found many West Africans who were experienced in trade and ready for new contacts that would expand their volume of exports and imports

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Beginnings of the Slave Trade In 1482, the African King Caramansa allowed the Portuguese to open a trading post on what the Europeans would call the Gold Coast of West Africa, Where vast amounts of African gold were soon traded for goods from Europe, Asia, and other parts of Africa that arrived on Portuguese ships Soon after, monarchs such as the oba of Benin and the manikongo of Kongo sent delegates to Portugal to gather information on the homeland of these foreign men Satisfied with what they had learned, the traders of Benin continued to provide the Portuguese with pepper, ivory, and textiles They also allow the Portuguese to purchase prisoners of war, who would be taken as slaves to work on the sugar plantations of the previously uninhabited island of So Tom off the African coast Africa would soon be forever transformed, and the effects of the European slave trade would be felt in nearly every corner of the world

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Slave Trade & Other Trade Routes The leaders of Benin chose to restrict contact with the Portuguese by the 1530s, But by then the king of Kongo had made Catholicism the official faith of his lands, And begun providing the Portuguese with more and more slaves The Kongolese slave trade soon got out of control, however, with unauthorized traders resorting to kidnapping to meet the growing demand for slaves The Kings plea for help from the Portuguese met with no response; the Portuguese had already begun to turn their attention to finding the route with the Indian Ocean trade The manikongo faced rebellion, and by the 1540s the center of the slave trade moved farther south, to what was dubbed the Slave Coast Sudden social, political, and economic changes such as these would later become the norm for Africa, as the Europeans continued their exploration and eventual exploitation of the continent

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Portuguese Involvement Meanwhile, by the end of the 15 th century, the Swahili coast of East Africa featured a number of prosperous Muslim- ruled trading states In 1505, nearly all of them were attacked and plundered by the Portuguese, who just recently rounded the southern tip of Africa in their continuing quest for sea route to India Only Ethiopia was spared Portuguese aggression in East Africa Under attack from the Muslim state of Adal, the Christian queen of Ethiopia pleaded for Portuguese aid The Muslims were held off, but Ethiopian hopes for permanent alliance with Portugal went unfulfilled as a result of the Ethiopian rulers refusal to affiliate their church with the Pope in Rome, rather than the Patriarchof Alexandria More significantly, by the mid-1500s, Portuguese attention had shifted to the Indian Ocean trade as well as their colonial conquests in the New World European involvement in Africa would level off temporarily but as the 17 th century unfolded, the seeds of change planted by Henry the Navigator would begin to burst forth with dramatic consequences

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The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Portugal led the way in bringing change to the Americas as well as to Africa; By the late 1500s, the Portuguese had copied the plantation style sugar production of their Western Atlantic islands, such as Madeira and So Tom, in their New World colony of Brazil Initially the Portuguese planters relied on Amerindian slaves to produce their crops, But as epidemics of old world diseases ravage the indigenous American population, African slaves were taken across the Atlantic in ever-increasing numbers by the Portuguese, Spanish, British, and other European colonists By the 17 th century, the European ships of the so-called Atlantic system Were transporting large numbers of young African adults (more males than females) to a life of slavery in the Americas, In exchange for European manufactured goods (including guns) and Indian textiles African gold, timber, and other products also found their way into the expanding global economic network

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Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade It must be noted that European traders were not the only ones to profit from these transactions: European guidebooks provided detailed information on the preferred trade items of different areas of Africas Atlantic coast, as African traders were often found to be shrewd bargainers Indeed over the 18 th century, the price demanded for a slave on the Gold Coast more than doubled The Africans bargaining advantages resulted in part from exploitation of the rivalry among several European nations that establish trading castles along the West African coast Traders from the Dutch East India Company and other European concerns found themselves forced to supply the Africans with more and more guns and gun powder (thus increasing African military strength in preventing European takeover of African territory) in order to compete in trade The Europeans were also forced to follow African trading rituals and paid customs duties to African leaders

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Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade The European fervor for African slaves fueled the growth of a number of West African kingdoms The small kingdom of Whydah, An early Gold Coast Center for the slave trade, Was overtaken in 1727 by the neighboring kingdom of Dahomey, Which had been able to supply its army (of males and females) with firearms furnished in exchange for slaves by European traders Dahomey was in turn dominated by the inland kingdom of Oyo in 1730, Then was forced to pay tribute to Oyo to remain independent For Oyo and the adjacent Kingdom of Asante, The Atlantic slave trade was merely one element of a thriving economy that also included extensive commercial activity within West Africa and across the Sahara desert

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Sources of Slaves Contrary to the belief of many in Europe at that time, only rarely did parents sell their children into slavery Instead, prior to the 18 th century slaves sold to the Europeans by West African traders were usually prisoners of war; However, historical debate continues over just how frequently wars were initiated solely for the purpose of capturing slaves for export Current theory holds that most wars in the region were fought over territory and other political disputes, The capture and sale of enemy prisoners was simply a side endeavor Later, the Europeans moved farther south and east to the Bight of Biafra in search of new sources of slaves Here there were no large kingdoms, Hence few large scale wars, So slave traders turned to kidnapping to maintain their supply, Which was supplemented by debtors and convicted criminals

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Cape Colony For the most part, outright European colonization of Africa would not take place until well after 1750 Two exceptions occurred before that time: Both the Portuguese and Dutch established African colonies after 1500 The Dutch East India Companys Cape Colony, Located at the far southern tip of Africa, Played a very minor role in African affairs during this period, as was the companys economic activities were oriented almost entirely to the Indian Ocean trade and focused very little on commercial ventures within Africa Even the Cape colonies slaves were imported primarily from places outside of Africa such as South Asia and East Indies

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Angola Colony Angola was a somewhat different story: As the African slave trade move steadily south and east during the 16 th century, the Portuguese realized they could profit from maintaining a permanent settlement along Africas Atlantic coast Centered on the ports of Luanda and Benguela, the colony of Angola soon became the primary supplier of African slaves for the Americas Portuguese settlers in the cities found profitable employment acting as middlemen, transferring slaves brought by caravan from Africas far interior to ships bound for Brazil The ships had brought goods from Europe and the Americas, which were taken back to the interior for exchanging in huge markets and fairs for more slaves, Thus continuing the internal cycle of commerce that fed into the larger Atlantic circuit

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Angola Colony The Portuguese presence on the Angola coast was maintained via relationships partnerships, even with inland African leaders, many of whom were loosely allied in an enormous federation of kingdoms Environmental crises in the region actually aided these leaders in boosting their subject populations and maintaining a steady supply of young adults for the slave trade Severe droughts in Africas southern grasslands forced refugees to flee to less arid areas After providing the refugees with food and water, African leaders would then assimilate the children and women of reproductive age (who were also valued as the regions primary food producers), While selling most of the adult males into slavery The Angolan leaders were thus able to: Consolidate an ever-growing population with little threat of rebellion, since few adult males remained Stabilize the land sometimes by planting new high-yield crops such as maize and cassava from the Americas; Repopulate drought ravaged territory Reap substantial profits from the European slave trade

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Ending of Slave Trade The strong African states that emerge from this process were able to discourage further encroachment and territorial takeover by the Europeans, who preoccupied with the Indian Ocean trade and colonization in the Americas remained basically content to trade Textiles, Metals, Weapons for African slaves until the 19 th century. At that time the combination of humanitarian and economic pressures would bring an end to the slave trade and drive the Europeans to formal colonization of African territory

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Africa and Islam While the 15 century marked the beginning of significant European contact with Africa, The Islamic world has of course long since developed strong ties with the continent, beginning in the century after Muhammads death Muslim beliefs and practices have spread from North Africa to the sub-Saharan region via overland trade, As well as to the Swahili coast of East Africa through the trade ships that plied the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean By the time Henry the Navigators men were beginning their exploration of West Africa, Islamic legal and governmental structures as well as the Arabic language had become firmly entrenched in the African trading cities south of the Sahara and on the southeastern coast Indeed, the Islamic world would maintain a much stronger influence than Europeans over African culture and politics throughout the period of 1450 to 1750 But while nearly all of North Africa had been engulfed by the Ottoman Empire by the 16 th century, The kingdoms and states of sub-Saharan Africa remained independent from both Middle Easterners and Europeans, A result of the regions protected geography and the military skills of its leaders

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Songhai Empire One independent kingdom was the Songhai empire, Which had succeeded in Mali as the leading center of trans-Saharan trade As Songhai grew from its base in the western Sudan, its indigenous Muslim leaders began to expand northward into the Sahara Perhaps fearing an impending territorial rivalry, the kingdom of Morocco sent the border of their territory, an addition of several thousand men and camels across the desert in 1590 Half the men died on the journey, but the remaining 2,000 mounted an attack on Songhais massive military in 1591 Despite a size advantage of nearly 20 times, the Songhai Army was no match for the 2500 muskets of the Moroccans For the next 200 years the Moroccans maintained a tributary dominance over the people of the western Sudan, Demanding slaves and goods from them Charging tolls to merchants crossing the territory Following this decline of the Songhai Empire, those involved in the trans- Saharan trade route shifted their operations from western Sudan to the central Sudan, Where the Hausa trading cities began to provide merchants from North Africa with gold and slaves in exchange for textiles, weapons, and hardware

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Islam and Trade The tenets of Islam played a significant role in many areas of African life, even economics While the Atlantic circuit trade brought rum and other alcoholic beverages to coastal Africa, The Muslim merchants of the Hausa trading cities were forbidden by their religion to use alcohol Conversely, Muslims (as well as Christians) of this period felt free to engage in the trade of slaves In fact, Muslims viewed the enslavement of pagans to be an act of virtue, as it would bring new followers to their faith

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Comparing Slave Networks While the slave trade with the Islamic North played an important role in the economy of the Sudan, What little historical evidence remains, indicates that the size of the trans-Saharan slave trade was smaller than that of the trans-Atlantic trade From the 17 th to 19 th centuries, some 1.7 million Africans were marched across the Sahara Or shipped over the Red Sea or Indian Ocean to lives of slavery in the Middle East and India In contrast, between 1550 and 1800 nearly 8,000,000 slaves crossed the Atlantic to the Americas

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Comparing Slave Networks Their final destination determined the type of work that African slaves were forced to do Most slaves sent to the Americas ended up performing grueling physical labor on sugar, tobacco, cotton plantations Those who wound up in the Islamic world were debatably more fortunate, as they were often placed in employment as soldiers or household servants The gender balance was different as well: Most African slaves sent to the Americas were men The majority of African slaves sent to the Middle East or India were women, Who were forced into service as concubines, Or domestic servants, Or entertainers Many more children were taken to the Islamic world, too including boys who would endure dangerous (often fatal) castrations to be transformed into eunuchs, because that was considered suitable for males to be serving as harem guards

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Legacy of the Slave Trade By the beginning of the 19 th century, The slave trade had brought considerable profit to certain African leaders and merchants (and a great deal more, of course, to Europe, the Americas, and the Islamic world) It also decimated the population of young, healthy adults in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa, particularly the inland territory of the Slave Coast However, the overall population of the region was still substantial, The African artisans and traders who persevered in this era of increasing change were, for the most part, able to maintain the production and sale of textiles and metal goods, Despite the volume of competing products flowing in from Europe and the Islamic world Thus, a very generalized examination of the slave trade might conclude that, within Africa, its impact was far from devastating Indeed, it is rather ironic that it was late 19 th century Imperialism, Which was initiated after the end of the slave trade, rather than the slave trade itself, that would bring changes of unimaginable consequence to the continent