Religious Education

Study Notes

Slavery involves forced labor, with slaves considered property of their owners.
Developed due to European expansion and colonization of new territories.
Social Motives:
- Need for domestic servants.
- Removal of undesirable societal members.
- Used as punishment for crimes.
- Aimed at depopulating Europe and settling excess African population.
Political Motives:
- Desire to expand influence in Africa and Europe.
- Strategic military reasons during conflicts.
Economic Motives:
- Labor supply for agriculture and industry.
- Demand for manufactured goods spurred slave trade profitability.

Social Effects:
- Significant depopulation and dislocation of communities.
- Destruction of cultural identities, languages, and religions.
- Introduction of new diseases affecting populations.
Economic Effects:
- Collapse of trans-Saharan trade networks.
- Loss of human resources and lack of development.
Political Effects:
- Emergence of new leadership structures.
- Increased violence, wars, and instability.
- Shifts in the rise and decline of various states; rise of racial attitudes.

Major routes connected West Africa to European markets and the Americas, facilitating the movement of enslaved people.

Involved three continents: Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
Consisted of three major stages:
- Trade of goods from Europe to Africa.
- Transportation of enslaved individuals from Africa to the Americas.
- Export of American goods back to Europe.

William Wilberforce:
- British politician and humanitarian opposing slavery.
- Advocated for abolition in the British Empire based on moral and religious grounds.
Abraham Lincoln:
- 16th President of the United States (1861-1865).
- Led during the Civil War, preserving the Union and abolishing slavery.

Political Aims:
- Protect and expand trade relations with Africa.
- Utilize African resources to enhance power among competing European nations.
Economic Aims:
- Increased demand for raw materials for manufacturing.
- Search for new sources of resources as supply from the New World diminished.
Social Aims:
- Transform traditional African societies to adopt Western lifestyles.
- Resettle freed slaves in African territories.
Religious and Humanitarian Aims:
- Missionaries sought to convert local populations to Christianity and provide education and medical services.
- Push for governmental protection against slave traders.

West Africa:
- Mungo Park, a Scottish explorer, was commissioned in 1795 to explore the Niger River for navigability.
East Africa:
- Richard Burton and John Hanning Spoke (1857-1858) explored the Nile River, discovering Lake Tanganyika and Lake Victoria; confirmed as a source of the Nile by Henry Morton Stanley in 1874.
Central Africa:
- Henry Morton Stanley noted for significant explorations, including mapping extensive regions.