The Impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade on Africa: A Review of the Literature

Abstract

THE significance of the Atlantic slave trade for African history has been the subject of considerable discussion among historians and merits attempts from time to time to review the literature. The present such attempt addresses several, but not all, the key issues that have emerged in recent years. These are, in order of discussion here: What was the volume of the Atlantic slave trade ? More specifically, what were the demographic trends of the trade with respect to regional origins, ethnicity, gender and age ? Finally, what was the impact of the slave trade on Africa ? In brief, what is the state of the debate over the slave trade ?My own position in the debate is clear: the European slave trade across the Atlantic marked a radical break in the history of Africa, most especially because it was a major influence in transforming African society.The history of slavery involved the interaction between enslavement, the slave trade, and the domestic use of slaves within Africa. An examination of this interaction demonstrates the emergence of a system of slavery that was basic to the political economy of many parts of the continent. This system expanded until the last decades of the nineteenth century. The process of enslavement increased; the trade grew in response to new and larger markets, and the use of slaves in Africa became more common. Related to the articulation of this system, with its structural links to other parts of the world, was the consolidation within Africa of a political and social structure that relied extensively on slavery. 2

The Founder Principle in Creole Genesis

“…The Founder Principle will be invoked to account for this difference. 12 Even though several censuses reveal the presence of several children (up to 14 years of age) on the plantations, note also that especially during the second half of the 18th century more and more children in the same age group were imported from particularly the Bantuspeaking Central Africa (Lovejoy 1989). Though some might see this situation as providing fuel for the language bioprogram hypothesis, it suggests quite a different alternative, viz., the children learned the local colonial speech (with the relevant variation), restructuring it the least and perpetuating the founder or preceding population's varieties.…”

Des Historiens et des histoires, pour quoi faire? L’Histoire africaine entre l’état et les communautés

“…À l'exception des travaux de J.E. Inikori (1994) qui a participé à la plus grande polémique entre chercheurs africains (nigérians en particulier, de Amadu Bello University), américains et canadiens, notamment Philip Curtin et Paul Lovejoy (1989), sur la démographie de la traite atlantique, les chercheurs africains soit ont privilégié les questions morales relatives au commerce des hommes et des femmes, soit se sont intéressés aux conséquences sociales et culturelles de la traite. Les relations complexes entre celle-ci et les révolutions musulmanes en Sénégambie ou entre le commerce des esclaves et le sous-développement de l'Afrique (Rodney 1972), par exemple, ont fait l'objet de polémiques qui ont mis aux prises Philip Curtin et des historiens sénégalais comme Boubacar Barry (1988) et Abdoulaye Bathily (1976).…”

Cultural studies in English studies: A German perspective

“…All in all it has been reckoned that 12 to 15 million Africans were taken across the Atlantic, but only 80 to 90% reached their destinations (cf. Lovejoy, 1989;Inikori, 1992), the others died on the 'Middle Passage'. The average mortality rate before 1700 was 20 to 25%, in the 18th century it was 15%, and in the 19th century 10% (cf.…”