CAUSES OF SLAVE TRADE
1) Europeans-British, French, Portuguese, Spaniards, and Dutch colonized the Americas, set up mines
which created demand for slave labour. Crops grown in the Americas were labour intensive.
2) Europeans set up sugar, cotton, coffee and banana plantations in the Americas that needed slave
labour.
3) Local Americans proved unsuitable for slave labour in farms and mines. Africans could easily adapt to
American conditions.
4) European labour could not be hired because they were too expensive. European workers were not
prepared to leave their homes and families.
5) Africans were already farmers, so they could easily adapt to American plantation (farming) life.
6) African rulers needed European goods such as clothes and guns, so they sold fellow Africans to get
European goods.
7) The discovery of bigger and faster ships enabled European slave traders to embark on slave trading
since they could pack many slaves and other goods in the ships.
8) There were never-ending ethnic wars in Africa and slave trade was the most suitable way of getting
rid of war captives.
9) Most Africans could not feed their prisoners so they sold them to slave traders.
10) Slave trade was a convenient way getting rid of social misfits; witches, criminals and debtors.
11) Slave trade was a very lucrative business to both Europeans and African kings who supplied slaves.
12) Discovery of the new world and its economic potential. Europeans discovered the Americas, which
could produce raw materials (crops and minerals) for European industries.
13) Rapid industrialization in Europe created a demand for a continuous supply of raw materials and
labourers to produce the raw materials.
Possible examination questions
a) State 5 reasons why Africans were enslaved [5]
b) Describe 6 methods that were used to obtain African slaves [12]
c) To what extent did Africans contribute to the occurrence of Atlantic slave trade? [8]
Africans contributed to the occurrence of slave trade. Africans had plenty of war criminals. African rulers
were greedy for European goods such as guns. Africans were hard workers.
However, other factors also contributed to the occurrence of Atlantic slave trade. Americans were not
suitable for slave labour. Europeans planned to enslave Africans. African kings cooperated with Slave
traders. Europeans built ships that could carry large numbers of slaves.
To a small extent Africans contributed to the occurrence of Atlantic slave trade.
Reasons for the abolition of slave trade
ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS FOR ABOLITION OF SLAVE TRADE If humanitarian considerations alone
had been the driving force towards abolition,slave trade could have been stopped in 1792. In that
year,the British House of commons voted for gradual abolition,not immediate,wholesale
abolition.Although the majority agreed with humanitarians on evils of the slave trade,they felt there
would be economic ruin for Britain and West Indian colonies if abolition was not gradual.Britain
followed a graduaiist approach to abolition -abolishing slave trade in 1807 and slavery in 1833.Abolition
was only effected and enforced after realisation that no ruin would befall the British economy.Economic
conditions became ripe for abolition: 1) West Indian planters had all the slaves they needed and were
even re-exporting some.Abolition would not ruin their economies. 2) The West Indian planters were
concerned about the development of new plantations in islands seized from the French and the Dutch
which were fertile.The established west Indian planters feared competition from new planters and
hence opposed the slave trade. 3) There was overproduction and oversupply of sugar by Brazil and
Cuba.Unsold sugar had been accumulated in England and to make sugar production profitable in the
West Indies,slave trade had to be stopped. 4) The British government had refused t give royal accent to
bills passed by states of Virginia,Massachusetts and Jamaica to abolish or reduce the slave trade.The
slave trade was still a prop to t British economy at that time.It was when the trade had failed to become
a prop that abolition was approved and enforced. 5) There was great demand for unrefined sugar and
raw cotton in Britain.Ship owners found it more profitable carrying unrefined sugar and raw cotton from
Brazil and USA respectively than carrying slaves from Africa to the Americas. 6) The industrial revolution
in Europe created demand for raw materials such as groundnuts,palm oil,cotton which could be
produced in tropical conditions of Africa.It was felt that it could be more profitable to trade with
Africans than to trade in Africans.Africans had to remain in Africa in order to produce and avail the
goods. 7) The industrial revolution created demand for markets for manufactured goods,so Africans had
to remain in Africa to provide markets for goods.Africans could now serve Britain more profitably by
supplying markets and raw materials than supplying labour to British colonies.
Measures taken to ensure successful abolition / Slave Trade suppression efforts
BRITISH ABOLITION AND SUPPRESSION EFFORTS 1Chief Justice Mansfield ,1772 declared that British law
did not recognise slavery and as soon as a slave set foot in Britain,he was free. 2 House commons voted
for gradual abolition in 1792. 3 1807 ,a law was passed making it illegal for British subjects to be
involved in slave trade. 4 Britain outlawed slavery in her empire,1833. 5 Britain used international fora
to persuade other nations to adopt her abolition agenda.At Vienna 1815,Britain persuaded European
statesmen to make a declaration against slave trade.At Aix lla Chapelle,1818 Britain unsuccessfully
persuaded other nations to agree to have their ships searched for slaves. 6 Britain signed abolition
enforcement treaties with other European nations and USA.Britain persuaded France and Brazil to stop
slave trade.Britain also signed reciprocal search treaties wi Spain and Portugal.The search treaties were
expanded to include capture of ships with slaving equipment-the equipment treaties. 7 Britain was
instrumental in setting up Courts of Mixed Commission in Freetown,Sierra Leone to tr captured slaving
ships. 8Britain sent naval squadron to patrol the Atlantic ocean looking for ships with slaves.The
squadron captured slaving ships,freed slaves.Its activities were later extended to east African coast. 9
Britain signed abolition enforcement treaties with West African rulers eg chiefs of Cameroon,rulers of
Creek Town,Duke Town,Bonny,.A treaty was signed with east African rulers like Sultan of Zanzibar. 10)
Britain encouraged missionaries and legitimate traders to venture into the interior to persuade Africans
to embrace Christianity,legitimate commerce and agriculture. 11) Britain set up coastal settlements
where freed slaves could be settled eg Freetown in Sierra Leone
