Caribbean Economy and Slavery: the West African Coast Was the Source of the Caribbean’s Labour from the 1500s to the 1800s Much to the Detriment of Africa’s Development and Progress. Justify This Statement Outlining
Section A
Theme 2 – Caribbean Economy and Slavery
The West African Coast was the source of the Caribbean’s labour from the 1500s to the 1800s much to the detriment of Africa’s Development and Progress.
Justify this statement outlining and assessing the way(s) in which the slave trade impacted West African societies. (35 marks) Slavery is commonly defined as “the condition in which one human being owns another”. A slave is consequently considered the property of that person and is thus deprived of rights which are commonly held by free persons.[1] Slavery has existed on almost all continents throughout recorded history. The Chinese and Egyptians were some of the earliest known examples of institutionalized slavery, as were the Greeks and Romans, the Maya, Inca and Aztecs. Prior to African enslavement, Europe practiced slavery for centuries (for example, the enslavement of the Slavs, from which the word “slave” is derived, in the Middle Ages).[2] New World Europeans began importing slaves from Africa in the 16th Century (continuing a process of slave trade begun in ancient Egypt[3]). In this slave trade, people were taken from great population reservoirs. Population shifts would occur and the population of a place would be depleted by the trade of slaves. Other goods and commodities would come into that country in exchange for the people taken.[4] The capture and enslavement of Africans had a massive impact on both West Africa and Africa as a continent. The removal of people en masse had a huge social impact on the entire Western region of Africa. The introduction of goods and services not existing prior to that time created new economic patterns of demand. Some of these goods, particularly European weapons, made intra-African wars more frequent and intense in parts of African society, creating new political patterns of dominance. As a result, the thinking of certain West African societies was changed, and those societies began to develop new ways of
Theme 2 – Caribbean Economy and Slavery
The West African Coast was the source of the Caribbean’s labour from the 1500s to the 1800s much to the detriment of Africa’s Development and Progress.
Justify this statement outlining and assessing the way(s) in which the slave trade impacted West African societies. (35 marks) Slavery is commonly defined as “the condition in which one human being owns another”. A slave is consequently considered the property of that person and is thus deprived of rights which are commonly held by free persons.[1] Slavery has existed on almost all continents throughout recorded history. The Chinese and Egyptians were some of the earliest known examples of institutionalized slavery, as were the Greeks and Romans, the Maya, Inca and Aztecs. Prior to African enslavement, Europe practiced slavery for centuries (for example, the enslavement of the Slavs, from which the word “slave” is derived, in the Middle Ages).[2] New World Europeans began importing slaves from Africa in the 16th Century (continuing a process of slave trade begun in ancient Egypt[3]). In this slave trade, people were taken from great population reservoirs. Population shifts would occur and the population of a place would be depleted by the trade of slaves. Other goods and commodities would come into that country in exchange for the people taken.[4] The capture and enslavement of Africans had a massive impact on both West Africa and Africa as a continent. The removal of people en masse had a huge social impact on the entire Western region of Africa. The introduction of goods and services not existing prior to that time created new economic patterns of demand. Some of these goods, particularly European weapons, made intra-African wars more frequent and intense in parts of African society, creating new political patterns of dominance. As a result, the thinking of certain West African societies was changed, and those societies began to develop new ways of