The Spaniards were just 'some of the customers' of this Slave-Trade empire designed by the other Conquistadors.

TRANS-ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE 1450-1750

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was the most abominable and cruel from of slavery, but it was neither the first nor the only slave trade. Slavery was a recognized institution around the world long before the Egyptians enslaved the Jews. Arabs raided European countries and captured white slaves which they sold in Africa. By the 18th century, a large part of the European population were descendants of serfs and slaves. In other words, slavery was not just about the black people who endured the Middle Passage. It was a part of human history.

Worldwide, domestic slavery was the most common form of enslavement. Rich men had slaves in their households, and, in some societies, the number of slaves determined his social status. In West Africa, severe forms of slavery existed. The slaves were usually men and women captured in war whose labor led to surplus production and whose numbers amplified the armies of imperial expansion. In most parts, slaves born within the master's household were better treated than war captives or trade slaves--often as members of the family. Slaves could occasionally rise to positions of importance or buy their own freedom. Nonetheless, a master had ultimate power over his slave. If a master chose to kill a slave, he could do so without question. The disgrace which cloaks the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade is the inhumanity of treatment the slaves received. The ultimate degradation and dehumanization of slaves singularly characteristic of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was the reduction of human beings to mere commodities and labor units. The minimum amount of food, clothing, and shelter was given to those slaves who survived the Middle Passage, and the maximum amount of work was expected of them.

European Role In The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade In the late 15th century, the Portuguese were the first Europeans to extensively explore the African Coast. Yet, as long ago as 600 BC, a group of Phoenician sailors commissioned by Egyptian King Necho II is said to have sailed around Africa (starting through the Red Sea and returning through the Straits of Gibraltar). Archaeological record even shows Greek sailors exploring the coasts of Africa as far back as 200 BC. Even though the Europeans were neither the first nor the only ones to come to this vast continent, they most profoundly interacted with and influenced the cultures and lives of the Africans with whom they came in contact.

WHAT TOOK THEM SO LONG

Before the late 15th century, Europeans were neither economically nor politically able to set up and maintain a long distance trading relationship. The feudal states of the European countries were just beginning to unite at the time, and the heads of these states had neither the funds nor the inclination to trade with distant peoples. They received all the goods they needed from trade in the Black and Mediterranean Seas. In addition, changing political patterns in the Middle East forced the Europeans to seek a different route to the Orient.

WHY THE PORTUGUESE WERE FIRST TO GO TO AFRICA

The Portuguese were the first to establish a lasting commercial tie between Europe and Western Africa because of religious, political and commercial reasons. Some scholars believe the Portuguese wanted to be the middlemen in the trade between Asia and Europe. The Arabs who had this lucrative position took advantage of it by charging high tariffs on goods coming from Asia and Africa. As middlemen, the Portuguese expected to gain the political power in Europe they had been denied since they were so small. Other scholars feel the Portuguese were looking for grain and gold which could be found in African cities. As they continued to discover the West African Coast though, the Portuguese hoped to reach India by sailing around Africa. Hoping to secure some of the Trans-Saharan trade in gold, ivory, and slaves monopolized by their enemies the Moors, they organized trade to the west Coast of Africa

SLAVERY COMES NATURALLY TO PORTUGUESE

By the end of the 15th century, the Portuguese and Spanish had expelled the Moors from their countries. The fall of Grenada in 1492 forever ended Muslim rule in Iberia. Exhilarated by their achievement, the Iberians were then prepared to chase the Moors from Northern Africa as well. Due to this rivalry between the Europeans and the Moors, the Portuguese were accustomed to black slave labor. Each group enslaved prisoners of war. In 1500, there were thousands of Moorish slaves in Portugal; so the Portuguese slave trade with the West Africans was a continuation of earlier contact. The additional slave labor also helped to alleviate the hard pressed labor market.

Slavery in Portugal in the early 15th century was mostly domestic, and slaves could buy their own freedom. The Mediterranean world was far more linguistically and religiously diverse than northern Europe and had known slavery throughout the course of human history. Slaves were considered human in the Mediterranean area. North America slave owners would develop theories of black slaves as half animals and not truly human beings in order to justify their brutality. Blacks were considered the lowest wrung of society.

INITIAL PORTUGUESE EXPLORATION OF WEST AFRICA

Prince Henry the Navigator initiated the search of the West African coast. Due to his efforts, by 1460 the Portuguese had explored the coast of Africa all the way to Sierra Leon. By 1498, Vasco de Gama had rounded the Cape of Good Hope. Trade with the coastal West African middlemen included cowry shells and hardware (cooking pots and brass pans and iron rods) in exchange for the gold, slaves, ivory, pepper, gum Arabic, and ostrich feathers. The Portuguese purpose was not to colonize, but to establish a secure trading relationship. They traded on African terms. Since there was some resistance to European infiltration, and the coastline was unsuitable to large boats, the Portuguese often based themselves on Islands off the coast of the continent and at coastal ports. They set up factories--commercial trading posts-- guarded by forts , spread their religion and grew sugar. Portuguese captains often married local women and had mixed race children who completely upset the societal hierarchy. These mixed race children often thought of themselves as superior to their African counterparts served as middlemen in the trade. The initial load of black slaves arrived in Portugal in 1441.

EFFECT OF PORTUGUESE PRESENCE IN AFRICA

Even though they had a very diminished role in the trade on the coast of west Africa by the end of the 17th century, the Portuguese did leave a small mark on the coastal peoples with whom they came in contact. European trade with the coastal Africans attracted many Africans from the interior and diverted the flow of trade across the Sahara to the Atlantic Coast of West Africa. This shift contributed to the fall of the Sudanese states. The Portuguese also left their names of places all along the coast--Cape Verde, Cape Palmas, Sierra Leone, El Mina. They introduced many new world crops into West Africa and expanded trading opportunities. They also left their slave castles which often changed hands in the battles between the European states for control of the slave trade. Portugal's inability and general unwillingness to control more of the African regions than they did was a testament to the powerful kingdoms in the Africa and the self-centered nature of European explorers. Profit and discovery drove the Portuguese to explore. Navigational and ship building advances helped them to achieve their goals. However, the complex societal structures of the African societies helped them to trade as equals with their European traders.

DUTCH SUCCESSION OF PORTUGUESE CONTROL IN AFRICA

By the end of the 17th century, the Dutch had succeeded the Portuguese in the domination of the West African Trade. The Dutch were serious and determined to control the African trade. They armed their boats and captured Portuguese forts along the coast. The drive which had led to the development of a complex canal and lock system to control flooding in their country as early as the 15th century, led them to dominate the Portuguese trade. By the 17th century the Dutch had a forty boat fleet which traded on the West African Coast year round. This fleet belonged to the Dutch West India Trading Company. This company, a national venture, was well-organized and well-funded, unlike the ventures of the other European countries. At this point in time, the trading expeditions of the other countries were controlled by individuals who had no success in making inroads into the Portuguese dominated trade. The Dutch also succeeded in replacing the Portuguese because they had no interest in colonizing or converting the people to Christianity. The Dutch dominated the trade from 1600-1700.

The 16th century was a period of marked growth in Europe which allowed the Europeans to discover the African Coast on their own and to expand their trading network. The engraving, pottery, textile-making, shipbuilding and metal trades flourished in many European countries, but the Dutch were especially skilled and advanced in their technological discoveries. They relied on their fishing and trade, but their drainage engineering for increased reliance on agriculture was a technological advancement symbolic of Dutch technological advancement.

ENGLISH AND FRENCH SUCCESSION TO DUTCH POSITION IN AFRICA

In spite of their dominance in the West African trade in the 17th century, the Dutch were not invincible. The French and English, adopting Dutch tactics, encroached on the Dutch monopoly of the region. They, too, created companies for the organization of trade to Africa and built new forts. But, most devastating to the Dutch was the passage of the Navigation Acts which forbade the importation of slaves into English and French colonies. Part of the Dutch success as traders was that they role as middlemen for other European counties. Denied this role, the Dutch suffered great loses of power in the slave trade.

ENGLAND BEATS FRANCE IN STRUGGLE FOR SLAVE TRADE

Throughout the first half of 18th century, France and England battled for control of the Guinea Coast. In Lower Guinea, the British`s main adversary was the Dutch. But when the Dutch Company was liquidated, the British soon gained control of the entire Ivory, Grain, and Gold Coasts. France, Britain’s main adversary in Upper Guinea, soon lost interest because of lack of profits. The sparsely populated Upper Guinea coast did not provide enough slaves. In addition, interior ethnic groups were very hostile to European influence. By the mid-18th century, Britain had full control of West African trade. In addition, the British won the Assiento, the sole license to ship black slaves from Africa to Spanish controlled territories in America, in the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713. British dominance in the slave trade began a new period of change in the European/African relationship. The English would begin to explore, conquer and rule African peoples. The Age of Trade shifted into the Age of Colonization.

As Europeans fought for control of the trade on the African Coast, new battles of conquest began in the Americas. In 1492, Columbus mistakenly landed in America in his search for India. His mistake opened a new world of discovery and conquest for the Europeans and a world of devastation for the native Americans and Africans. After Columbus’ initial trip, a flood of explorers and fortune hunters followed. In 1500 Pedro Alvares Cabral discovered Brazil for the Portuguese. The Spanish American and Portuguese possessions multiplied from then on. The main economic activities were ranching, mining and agriculture. Spain carried on a prosperous trade with its colonies throughout the sixteenth century. The discovery of vast silver mines in the 1540s enriched the colonial inhabitants and increased the volume of trade across the Atlantic.

Though not initially inclined to do so, other European countries sought to expand their own empires and trading systems and soon joined the Spanish and Portuguese in the Americas. By 1609, the English had conquered Bermuda. By 1623, they also possessed Antigua, Monster, Nevis, Barbados, and other islands. Guadeloupe and Martinique belonged to the French by 1625. The Dutch, Swedes, and Danes also joined in the rush to the Americas.

But the colonization of this new world was not easy. Many European traders who crossed the Atlantic did not want to colonize, but only to profit from the trade. It is reluctantly that many traders decided to live away from their native countries. For example, England's initial plan for the Americas was to put as few people as possible overseas for the efficient running of their trading systems. But soon, the European countries were pushed into a colonial administration by their drive for profit. With the success of sugar and tobacco in the new world, small farmers and profiteers came in droves to the new world to gain from the prosperous new trade. This was only the beginning of the colonization process. To work the large plantations which soon formed, the English and other Europeans sent over white indentured servants. At the same time, the Spanish and Portuguese planters especially were exploiting Indian labor against the will of their governments and of the Catholic Church. The conquistadors raided the interior to find more Indians to exploit. Soon , most of the Indians, unused to the work, died of disease or were worked to death. To replace their dwindling resource, the Portuguese began to import slaves from their African ports. Thus, the African slave trade came to the new world.

INITAL SETTLEMENT

Columbus' exploits in the Caribbean Islands for the crown of Castille opened new opportunities for trade and wealth for the Spanish throne. Spanish society of the period was conquest oriented. Even until 1492, the crown was still contending with Moorish settlements to the south. The expansionist mentality was Ingrained in the society . Columbus wanted to establish forts and trading posts , in which Spaniards would work for a salary, to facilitate trade with the native peoples. However, the crown preferred to populate the areas discovered by Columbus and to transplant Spanish society to America. In line with this policy, a large shipment of people and supplies left Spain in 1493 destined for Hispaniola, now the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Santo Domingo became the capital of this new settlement.

GOLD AND INDIAN EXPLOITATION

The Spaniards employed the encomienda system to exploit the labor of the Indians on the island. In the ecnomienda system, a tribe of Indians is given to a powerful Spaniard by the governor for his exploitation. Gold was the only commodity the Spanish could easily produce. So they forced the Indians to mine it for them. This gold supported the colony for twenty years. The colonists traded it for the European goods they desired such as wine and olive oil. The Portuguese monopolized the sugar trade. The colonists' desire to replicate their old society in the "New World" led to increased trade across the Atlantic in European cloth and manufactured goods as well. The Spanish felt that their society was the best and sought to impose it where possible. Italian merchants initially funded and controlled trade between Spain and the Indies, but eventually, members of the Castillian throne took over.

EXPANISION TO THE NORTH AND SOUTH

Conquistadors led Spanish expansion on the mainland in the search for gold, pearls, and Indian Slaves. With their metal weapons, shield, and armor, they easily captured Indian tribes. They later conquered present day Panama and Peru (The Incas) to the south and Cuba and Mexico (The Aztecs) to the north. In their wake they left their culture, mores, and religion. The discovery of silver mines in Peru in the 1540s boosted trade across the Atlantic as booty hunters made their fortunes.

FROM GOLD TO SUGAR

When the gold reserves began to run out, the Spanish resorted to planting sugar around 1515. They brought sugar experts from the Canary Islands and copied the plantation styles of the islands. They also began importing black slaves. By the 1540, there were several large sugar plantations in Hispaniola and around the Caribbean. Spanish throne imposed trading regulations and licenses on merchants heading to the Caribbean with complex restrictions. In spite of all of Spain's efforts however; smuggling was rampant. There was a strong demand for slaves, and a guaranteed profit for anyone who would provided them.

FRANCE THREATENS SPANISH POSSESSIONS IN THE EARLY 17TH CENTURY

The French threatened Spanish possessions in the New World. Separatist organizations in Holland prevented serious interest from being developed in the New World in the very early 17th century. Florida was the focus of France's attacks. Soon French pirates and buccaneers were intercepting Spanish ships entering and exiting the Caribbean

SUGAR

Complex sugar cultivation began in Cyprus and Sicily long before the Portuguese began exploring the African coast. The Italians took control of the sugar trade and actively traded it and financed its cultivation. They brought the techniques of sugar production, estate `management, and commercial organization to the Iberian Peninsula, the Atlantic Islands and later to the Americas. The Atlantic Islands included Madeira, Sao Tome, the Canaries, and the Azores. With Italian funding, the Portuguese developed complex sugar plantations and monopolized sugar production. Later, the Dutch West India Company became middlemen for the Portuguese as well.

BACKGROUND ON BRAZIL

Pedro Alvares Cabral, a Portuguese captain, was the first European to enter Brazil in 1498. Brazil was named after the brazilwood trees that lined its coast. The Portuguese had ignored the new discovery in favor of oriental trade. However, when the French began trading with the native peoples of Brazil for their trees, the Portuguese became concerned. European dye makers loved the dye extracted from the Brazil trees. The Spanish also traded somewhat along the Brazilian coast. The Portuguese therefore established Brazil's first settlement, Sao Vincent, in 1532 to ensure their dominion over the colony.

SUGAR AND SLAVERY

Colonization of Brazil was a lengthy process. Eventually, though, sugar became a major industry. The labor force was of course comprised of black slaves. The discovery of gold in 1693 led to a decline in sugar profits. European masters, bringing their slaves, flocked to gold mining sights in order to make their fortunes. In spite of this slump and others that would follow, sugar continued through 1750 to be the major crop of the Caribbean which enriched many European powers.

Tobacco production in the Caribbean was extremely important to the "triangular trade." The good quality tobacco was sent to Europe for pipes and snuff. Poorer quality tobacco was mixed with molasses and other additives and sent to Africa. However, tobacco was always secondary to sugar.

Mulatto or mixed race people were the inevitable byproduct of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Lonely European men who worked in the new world took mistresses and wives from among the Native Americans and some of the black slaves. Europeans discrimnated against this new race of people. However, they occasionally rose to positions of prominence within soceity.

European Middlemen profited the most from the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade. Unless they lost an unusually large amount of their human cargo on their way to the Caribbean, these traders were sure to make a profit. The trinkets, cheap guns, and goods which they sold the Africans were of a much lower value than the human stock they took away. The demand for sugar and tobacco in Europe and the demand for more slaves in the Caribbean secured a return on their investment.

The slave trade was predominantly detrimental to West African societies. Even though large empires such as Dahomey, Asante, and Benin expanded and prospered because of the slave trade, the subsequent abolition of the trade led to the fast downfall of all these states. The huge loss of population suppressed economic, social and political advancement. Since slavers preferred young adult men and women, the technological breakthroughs and societal enrichment they could have produced were non-existent. The breakdown of the traditional social systems weakened the society.

However, the transfer of Africans to the Americas has led to a cultural diversity unseen in world history. Today African Americans play predominant roles in the arts, sports, corporate world and music. Their contribution to and influence on world culture is unparalleled.

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