The Slave Trade

It can be argued that the underdeveloped conditions of the New World led to higher demand for slaves, especially in the European countries. For instance, in order to meet this increasing demand for slaves, Africans were captured and sold. The reason for that is  Europeans relied heavily on slaves to provide cheap labor since they needed to clear forests for cultivation, grow crops and carry out mining activities. Regarding this,, slaves would work for the Europeans at little costs.

Tobacco crops had significant effect on the international trade, since it could be easily exchanged for gold and ivory from Africa. These precious minerals were important in the development of the European industries, since they were the required raw materials for manufacturing various commodities. Indeed, Africa had several minerals, which could be easily exchanged for tobacco during the international trade.

Sudden growth of the seventeenth slave trade had significant effects on population since the number of people in Europe experienced exponential growth while that of Africa stagnated. Moreover, agricultural productions increased to larger scale. As a result of slave trade, British received several natural and financial resources overseas, thus earning higher profits to finance their industries. On the other hand, Africans were deprived of their natural resources, thus making them to remain in a state of poverty. It is evident that Africans had strong civilization before the 17^th century, and this was seen in countries such as Egypt, Mali and Ghana. This can be supported by the fact that these countries had made significant discoveries in mathematics, science and architecture, among others, 5000 years ago, before the Europeans discovered them. However, European culture/civilization was stronger since it had made more scientific discoveries than African, which made it highly industrialized.

Inhumane conditions were experienced in the Atlantic slave trade, and the slaves died of diseases, for instance smallpox. Moreover, the masters in charge of the slaves were too cruel to invoke fear and prevent them from attempting to escape. In this regard, slaves would be demoralized since their fundamental rights are infringed in the slavery process. Physically, slavery experience would lead to ill-health and general body weakness. It would also have psychological effects such lack of self-pride and self-esteem. For example, women slaves were forced into sexual relationships, thus lowering their self-esteem and human dignity.