West African slavery existed long before the arrival of European slave traders in 1441. Chiefs of strong African nations lining the west/central coast of Africa (also known as the slave coast) would enslave prisoners of war from opposing tribes. European slave traders encouraged these wars to increase the number of Africans kidnapped or captured for sale into slavery. In exchange for enslaved people, Europeans would trade manufactured goods including guns, metal goods, glass, pottery, rum, and textiles.
|
From the standpoint of the colonial ruling class, there were four reasons Europeans used enslaved African labor more so than that of enslaved Native and white immigrant labor. First, African people were strong and more resistant to European diseases than Native Americans. In the words of one observer, “One African is worth four Indians.” Second, they were cheaper - to buy an Irish or English servant for seven years cost the same as buying an enslaved African for life. Unlike the Irish, the supply of Africans seemed inexhaustible. Third, because Africans were not white, they could not blend into the white population. Thus, they could more easily be captured if they escaped. Fourth, they had no government protection; they could not appeal to any monarch or white public opinion. These advantages influenced the decisions that created racially-based slavery in the Americas.
|
Slave MarketThis scene of a slave market on the African coast at the Kambia River shows the confusion that typically accompanied the loading of Africans onto slave ships.
|
Branding SlavesBoth slave traders and slave owners branded enslaved people. This made it easier to capture fugitive slaves, since they could identify them as being from a particular ship or plantation.
|
Slaves Come to JamestownThe landing of twenty Africans at Jamestown from a Dutch man-of-war in 1619 marked the beginning of the African American experience.
|