Negative Effects Of Transatlantic Slave Trade

Trans-Atlantic trade is the trade which took place across the Atlantic, thus the origin of the name; between 16th to 19th Century. It involved the selling of the West Africans to the Western Europe slave traders. The sole reason the trade began was to provide a work force that was required for the expansion of the European empire. The colonies that developed between countries played a sinister role in seeing the onset of the trade, like that of The United States on England (Blaufarb & Clarke 13).
There was a preference for Africans because they were considered stronger and immune to various diseases and environmental conditions. They had previous experience in Agricultural farming and cattle rearing. European slaves could not stand the hostile

environmental working conditions and were very vulnerable to attack by diseases. Their population was limited due to frequent conflicts which led to some of them migrating.
The international struggle against the Transatlantic Slave Trade borders on the inhuman trafficking of Africans that translated to the intent to end the enslavement and voice for freedom that spans the entire Atlantic world.

The onset of the quest to end the slave trade was highlighted in 1829 in the Africa’s West coast (Blaufarb & Clarke 17). This stemmed from the success exhibited in recapturing the mega slave ship that had been the sole reason for the success of the trade. This was the primary vessel used in the conveying the slaves to the holding dens. The seizure of the ship was masterminded by the British Navy in the efforts made to limit the influence inhuman trafficking
The negative impacts of the transatlantic slave trade were widespread, the reason there were many individuals and lobby groups vouching for its abolition. The rationale behind this lies in the challenges that were exhibited in the African regions where the slaves were sourced. There was the observation that the targeted regions were rid of the developments that were thought ought to have resulted in the effective improvement on the quality of life

led.
The processes that were due for consideration in the quest to terminate the elements of the slave trade were protracted and very drawn out. The typical cause of this was the resistance that was inevitable in the attempt made to stop the continued engagement in the trade. There are massive profits and returns that were obtained from the practices in the trade that the slave holders could not easily give up the core source of cheap labor that was very much needed for agricultural production (Blaufarb & Clarke 19).
There had been a long list of individuals notably against the practice of the trade, but the challenges mounted to accompany the attempt to mitigate the trade was not sufficient. As such, it continued to flourish given the people at the center of the operations were influential and not very easily outwitted. All the attempts made to abolish the trade were a mere benevolent acts staged by the British in the hope yielding to the pressure that came in from the intellectual class of individuals and all the other humanitarian activities that had been strongly opposed to the aspects of the trade.
The horrors that the Africans underwent, especially through Middle Passage were a critical pointer to back up the desire to have the trade abolished. There were many lives lost, a lot of pain inflicted on the slaves in transit. It is such suffering that brought the relentless efforts made by the lobby groups to vouch for the frameworks that would be incorporated in the quest to end the transatlantic slave trade.
The continued opinion development on the need to end the slave trade became an international affair with all the affected nations rooting for the total abandonment of the trade. Even though there is an imperative role that was played by the British abolitionists in a bid to end slave trade, there is also the aspect of the resistance to capture by the Africans targeted. Once there were difficulties in the initial stage of capturing the slaves, it was feasible to set in motion the attempts made to put an end to the slave trade (Blaufarb & Clarke 22).
The trade was masterminded by the Portuguese when their interest shifted from gold mining. This was fuelled by the fact that the African slaves were readily available to provide cheap labor and would incur very little cost. The trade was also caused and promoted by the fact that slavery was not new to Africa; it was already an endemic vice. Before The Trans-Atlantic trade, Africans could be enslaved as punitive measures for crimes, repayment of debts owed by their families or to provide manpower during wars, which was a the norm among various communities then.
The slave trade greatly affected the social structures of African societies.

The high demand for slaves by the Western countries resulted in political instability, retarded economic growth, social fragmentation; families were destroyed when their heads were captured to be sold for slavery. The end result of all these was a state stricken with poverty due lack of a majority of the working population (Blaufarb & Clarke 34). The abduction of Africans for slavery purposes had an impact of depleting the population, thus economic underdevelopment. The trade naturally caused impoverishment of African states, thus a continued dependency of Africa on the European powers for grants and other financial aids. This unequal treatment of Africans, leading to capitalism and enrichment of the European countries, was escalated by the view that Africans were generally an inferior race to the whites. Colonialism also didn’t do any better in changing this premeditated

notion.
Another notable impact of the Trans-Atlantic trade on African societies was the forced migration of the human population in the bid to escape capture for slavery. Africans became indulged in genocide in the bid to capture slaves to sell to the Europeans. The various tribes and sub-communities went to war among themselves to capture the ones they could for sale.
They viewed this as a means of quelling the influence of their enemies. The civil unrest, courtesy of this trade, would later see the emergence of civil war as the Africans attempted to put a stop to it. The trade also impacted on the economy in light of the extortion it yielded in the 1820 when it was illegalized. The price of slaves shot up so sharply and those who sought slaves had to pay exorbitant fees to acquire them (Blaufarb & Clarke 39).
In conclusion, it could be said with certainty that the international efforts that were made with the primary intentions of ending the trade had a significant role to play in the achieving the success sought-after. This was in the perceptive of saving the most affected population in the form of the Africans. Even though many lost their lives as a result of the brutality they faced on a day to day to basis and the corporal labor they were expected to contend with, the eventual success in ending the trend was a life-saving victory to all the potential slaves in the frequently targeted regions.