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Advantages Of Slavery In West Africa

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According to the Oxford Dictionary, ‘slavery’ is defined as a condition of having to work very hard without proper remuneration or appreciation. In West Africa, the enslaved status was determined by several economic, political and social factors. Some were enslaved voluntarily because of debts they incurred whilst others were enslaved as a form of punishment for crimes. It was mainly through warfare that Europeans acquired slaves. Where there were tribal wars, the tribe which lost the war would become captives. A person might have also become a slave if they were caught practicing witchcraft or if one failed to pay tribute. In this essay the writer seeks to analyse the merits and demerits of a 200 year-war against slavery.
West Africans were …show more content…

This was commonly known as the ‘slave trade’ according to Dr Hakim in Africa and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. This student notes this is a triangular trade which began in Europe where the ship would transport manufactured to Africa, where those goods would be traded for people who were enslaved. The ship containing numerous of enslaved packed tightly like a tin of sardines would then journey to the Americas and the Caribbean. This leg of the trade was known as the ‘Middle Passage’ where the slaves would journey across the Atlantic Ocean to their ‘new home’ which took 60-90 days. The last leg was where the ships unloaded the slaves. They were traded for other raw goods and commodities then the ship headed back to Europe. The Middle Passage was the beginning of the 200 year war which Professor Beckles referred to. This is because resistance started at the point of capture in West Africa and it continued to develop along the Middle Passage. The enslaved African was persistent in their fight for freedom as they attempted to return to Africa but when they realized their efforts were in vain some of them committed suicide by jumping over board and starving themselves whilst other attacked the

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