Introduction
Different types of social bondage, such as slavery were widespread in Africa for centuries, and the slave trade has been a substantial item of income, that accompanied other goods trade. Ross Dunn and Laura Mitchell (2014) note in their book: “between the years 800 and 1600 … five thousand slaves, both men and women, crossed the Sahara Desert each year, along with gold and other goods, to serve in wealthy households, workshops or army units in Muslim lands. Indian Ocean traders also bought slaves in East Africa for shipment to Arabia, Egypt, Persia, or India” (Dunn, Mitchell, p. 535). However, it was not before the end of the fifteenth century, that the slave trade has significantly changed its direction, turning mostly to American destinations, and gradually began to develop and take a good deal of African economy, until it reached its peak by the 1780s.
Main body
Supply is created by demand, and in this case, a few reasons can be identified for increasing proportions of African slave labor compared to the use of other forms of servitude, or people of other origins. First of all, the Africans became a popular source of manpower, when Portuguese and other Europeans understood, that instead of disembarking and raiding the dangerous, well-guarded African coasts to acquire slaves, or unnecessarily exposing themselves to fatal tropical diseases, it was far easier to make agreements with local leaders and sellers for trading slaves to gold, silver and manufactured goods for a reasonable price. Since the beginning of the sixteenth century, the African slaves were shipped to Europe and Eastern Atlantics, but later the colonies started demanding workers and the trade shifted to the Americas.
The second reason was the actual impossibility of using the Native Americans as manpower since the beginning of the sixteenth century. By that time, the local population has reduced significantly due to the epidemics of diseases brought by colonists from Europe and Africa, from which the aborigines had no immunity. Also many were already enslaved by that time and often died from harsh working conditions and mistreatment. Another important reason was the edict of the Holy See: “Paul III (1534-49), in a Brief on 29 May 1537 to Cardinal Juan de Tavera, Archbishop of Toledo, forbade … that American Indians should be reduced to slavery or despoiled on any pretext whatsoever of their possessions … at the beginning of June 1537, the Pope in the Bull ‘Veritas Ipsa’ … proclaimed the absolute condemnation of slavery and annulled retrospectively all contracts providing for it, so that slaves had the right to free themselves from their state of servitude” (Conti, 1979).
Another important reason was the origin of the slaves themselves. The black African slaves were often stronger and sturdier than most Native Americans or Europeans, and the color of their skin allowed them to work long hours in the hot climate. These working qualities became crucial when the sugar plantations and sugar production became the main source of economic power in the region. However, most of the slaves were coming from different parts of Africa, and spoke different languages, had different cultures and beliefs, which allowed the slave owners to ensure there will be no chance for rebellion.
Conclusion
Although these reasons explain why African slaves were the most popular source of labor in the Americas for almost four centuries, the question of why the Africans themselves were eager to enslave and sell their fellow countrymen, remains open. The researchers have different opinions on this topic, and place different degrees of guilt upon European merchants, as Dunn and Mitchell (2014) state in their book, but there is no orthodox opinion, so the truth remains uncovered yet.
References
Dunn, R., & Mitchell, L. (2014). Panorama: A World History Volume 2: From 1300.New York City, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Conti, L. (1979). The Catholic Church and the slave trade. In The African slave trade from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century: reports and papers of the meeting of experts organized by Unesco at Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 31 January to 4 February 1978 (p. 265). Paris, France: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.