The slave trade had devastating effects in Africa. Economic incentives for warlords and tribes to engage in the slave trade promoted an atmosphere of lawlessness and violence. Depopulation and a continuing fear of captivity made economic and agricultural development almost impossible throughout much of western Africa.
Life on the fields meant working sunup to sundown six days a week and having food sometimes not suitable for an animal to eat. Plantation slaves lived in small shacks with a dirt floor and little or no furniture. Life on large plantations with a cruel overseer was oftentimes the worst.
African slavery expanded so rapidly in the late 17th century, because The Royal African Company's monopoly was finally broken. The trade now opened to English and colonial merchants on a competitive basis, prices fell and the number of Africans arriving in North America increased.
Slavery existed in Africa before Europeans arrived. However, their demand for slave labour was so great that traders and their agents searched far inland, devastating the region. Powerful African leaders fuelled the practice by exchanging enslaved people for goods such as alcohol, beads and cloth.
Unsanitary conditions, inadequate nutrition and unrelenting hard labor made slaves highly susceptible to disease. Illnesses were generally not treated adequately, and slaves were often forced to work even when sick. The rice plantations were the most deadly.
Slaves were punished by whipping, shackling, hanging, beating, burning, mutilation, branding, rape, and imprisonment. Punishment was often meted out in response to disobedience or perceived infractions, but sometimes abuse was performed to re-assert the dominance of the master (or overseer) over the slave.
How did the lives of African slaves change over the course of the first century of slavery? At first they were treated like indentured servants, but after the introduction of the slave codes, they were treated more cruelly. Who emigrated to North America in the seventeenth century, and why did they come?
High European demand for cash crops (Tobacco, sugar, and rice), Difficulty in enslaving Natives, and lack of indentured servants were the reasons for growth of slavery.
The transport of enslaved people to the American colonies accelerated in the second half of the 17th century. In 1660, English monarch Charles II created the Royal African Company to trade in enslaved people and African goods. His brother, James II, led the company before ascending the throne.
This had particularly detrimental conse- quences, including social and ethnic fragmentation, political in- stability and a weakening of states, and the corruption of judicial institutions. The most common manner in which slaves were taken was through villages or states raiding one another (Northrup 1978; Lovejoy 1994).
Global estimates indicate that there are as many as forty million people living in various forms of exploitation known as modern slavery. This includes victims of forced labor, debt bondage, domestic servitude, human trafficking, child labor, forced marriage, and descent-based slavery.
The Portuguese, in the 16th century, were the first to buy slaves from West African slavers and transport them across the Atlantic.
There were numerous restrictions to enforce social control: slaves could not be away from their owner's premises without permission; they could not assemble unless a white person was present; they could not own firearms; they could not be taught to read or write, nor could they transmit or possess “inflammatory” ...
Blacks on the plantations worked on daily tasks in the fields, without much white supervision. How did black slaves demonstrate some of their African cultures through their everyday lives? Slave women created African-style head wraps and clothing.
Normally, slaves would sleep on a heap of straw with a blanket on top, either in the kitchen or the hallway, or up in the attic.
During their limited leisure hours, particularly on Sundays and holidays, slaves engaged in singing and dancing. Though slaves used a variety of musical instruments, they also engaged in the practice of "patting juba" or the clapping of hands in a highly complex and rhythmic fashion. A couple dancing.