The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: A Historico-Philosophical Analysis

Abstract

This piece has studied the basic facts of black slavery and its  consequences on the African continent. It discovers that with the discovery of the New World, the Europeans discovered vast potential wealth, both in mineral resources and land. Both sources of wealth needed ample labour for their exploitation. The native Indians could not supply it- they died in vast numbers of diseases the Europeans introduced. This lack turned the eyes of Europe to West Africa. In 1518, the first load of African prisoners was taken directly from West Africa to West Indies, ushering in over three centuries of the infamous triangular trade. This piece further discusses the capture of the slaves and their transportation to Africa, their conditions in Europe and the abolition of the trade. It concludes that the Atlantic slave trade is the hidden history of West Africa’s present crisis.

Keywords: Trans-Atlantic, Slave Trade, Historico, Philosophical, Analysis.