Africa & European Contact: 1500-1880s

• This unit explores Africa's contact with the outside world, focusing on the Western and Central African coasts and European powers between 1500-1880s
• It examines slavery and the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, including its origins, phases, and effects

Unit Learning Outcomes

• Evaluate the relationship between Africa and Europe during this period
• Analyze the political, social, and economic impacts of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
• Examine the living conditions of African people during both the Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Saharan slave trades
• Compare the consequences of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade on Africa
• Explain the motives of white settlers in Southern Africa during this era

Key Terms

• Voyages: Journeys or expeditions, often by sea
• Exploration: The act of searching and discovering new territories and resources
• Legitimate Commerce: Trade in commodities between Africans and European merchants
• Commodities: Raw materials or primary agricultural products that can be bought and sold

Contact with the Outside World

• Portugal initiated early contacts with West Africa to reach India by bypassing Muslim North Africa and access the gold-producing region
• This provided Portugal with wealth for further exploration
• Henry the Navigator sponsored Portuguese exploration to spread Christianity, establish Africa as a Christian stronghold against the Ottoman Empire and create commercial links

Portuguese Expansion

• 1415: Ceuta was conquered in Morocco, marking Portuguese expansion across the Atlantic coast and stayed there until 1769
• 1432: The Portuguese reached Cape Bajador, southwest of Ceuta
• 1441: Nuno Trisatao reached Cape Blanc
• 1460: The Portuguese arrived in Senegambia, Sierra Leone, remaining until their decline in the 16th century
• Senegambia became an early region affected by European trade and a source of enslaved people for about a century

Gold Coast (Ghana)

• The Portuguese encountered African kingdoms, including Ghana
• 1482: The Portuguese built the Castle of Elmina, a permanent trading post to protect their trade from European competitors and hostile Africans
• Contact led to the spread of American crops like maize and cassava, contributing to population growth in West and Central Africa

European Competition

• The Dutch, English, and French competed for overseas trade
• In 1642, the Dutch seized Elmina, and the Portuguese permanently left the Gold Coast

Slavery

• Slavery existed in Africa, Europe, and Asia
• Enslaved Africans were primarily used as domestic servants in Southwest Asia
• Enslaved people from Nubia went to Egypt, and others crossed the Sahara to North Africa

Expansion of Slavery

• Long-distance trade and early kingdoms like Mali and Songhai utilized slave labor in agriculture
• Benin used slaves extensively in agriculture to symbolize wealth and prosperity
• Trans-Saharan trade routes transported enslaved people to the Mediterranean and Asia Minor before the Trans-Atlantic slave trade

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade - Causes

• Discovery of America in 1492 led to large plantations and mines
• Europeans needed laborers and enslaved Native Americans, but diseases and harsh treatment killed most
• Portuguese and Spaniards began transporting enslaved white people from Europe, but they could not endure the tropical climate

Enslaved Africans

• Europeans began transporting enslaved black people from West Africa from the 15th to the 19th century
• The Trans-Atlantic slave trade formed a triangular trade network connecting Africa, America, and Europe
• Africa supplied human labor, America produced raw materials, and Europe created finished goods

Triangular Trade

• Enslaved Africans were exchanged for sugar, tobacco, and other goods in the Americas
• Raw materials from America were exported to Europe and sold at high prices
• Finished goods like cotton, alcohol, firearms, and metal wares were taken from Europe to Africa and exchanged for enslaved people

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade- Conditions

• Fragmentation of large political states: Ghana, Mali, Songhai
• The region became a major source of slaves
• Conflict between small coastal states led to cooperation with European traders exchanging slaves for arms

Phases of the Atlantic Slave Trade

• Piratic Slave Trade: 15th century – 1580s, individual merchants and adventurers
• Monopolistic Slave Trade: 1580s, monopolistic companies supported by governments
• Free Trade: 1690s, individual traders compete with former companies

Impact on Africa

• Undermined African craft technology and agriculture
• Reallocated labor to America and the Caribbean
• Caused confusion, insecurity, violence, and destroyed African states
• Degraded morality and dignity, resulting in immense suffering
• Depopulated Africa, enslaving and deporting over 12 million Africans

Legitimate Trade

• "Legitimate trade" refers to trade in commodities between Africans and European merchants, exchanging raw materials for European goods
• Led to intensive exploitation of African natural resources, stimulating colonialism
• Spread Christianity

White Settlement in South Africa

• In 1652, the Dutch trading company established a settlement for trade with the Khoisan.
• In 1657, Van Riebeck allowed soldiers to become farmers (Boers) and provided them with enslaved West Africans.
• Boer settlement on Khoisan land led to the Khoi-Dutch war, which the Dutch eventually won.
• The Khoisan lost resources, rights, and culture, adopting Dutch ways or serving as Boer commanders.

Conflict and Expansion

• Conflicts between the Xhosa and Trek Boers began in the 1770s over fertile land in Zuurveld, lasting a century.
• In 1795, the British seized the Cape Colony from the Dutch for strategic reasons to prevent French control.
• British occupation caused the Dutch-speaking colonists and Boers to move north in the 1830s and 1840s.

British Influence

• From 1818-19, the British pushed the Xhosa beyond the Keiskama River, settling 500 immigrants in 1829.
• In the sixth war (1834-35), the British pushed the Xhosa west of the Kei River but later returned the territory.
• The British abolished slavery in the cape colony, angering the Boers who relied on slave labor.
• Boers left the cape area in 1835 in the Great Trek due to laws favoring native Africans and opposition to equality.
• In the late 1830s, several thousand Boer families moved north from the Eastern Cape.

European Explorers and Missionaries

• Europeans remained ignorant about Africa despite coastal contacts, prompting explorers to rectify this.
• From the 1780s to 1870s, explorers sought scientific knowledge and trading profits, serving as agents of colonial expansion.
• Catholic missionaries from Portugal aimed to convert African rulers, but they were expelled for challenging political and religious orders.
• African rulers wanted trade, assistance, and firearms, but they opposed threats to their religious authority.
• Little success was achieved in Benin, but Kongo saw a Christian convert become king in 1506.

Missionary Efforts

• Jesuit missionaries in Ethiopia had little success converting Ethiopian Orthodox Christians and were expelled for interference.
• By the 18th century, European Christianity had little impact in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• In the 19th century, societies like the British Anglican Church Missionary Society and the London Missionary Society sent missionaries to Africa and were prominent in Sierra Leone.
• Protestant missions also came from France, Germany, Holland, and the United States, with the French Catholic mission following later.