The Effects of the Triangular Trade on African Society (SQA National 5 History): Revision Note

Summary

The trade in enslaved African people had significant and long-lasting impacts on African countries and communities. The most obvious impact was population loss. Other impacts included social and cultural changes, an increase in war, conflict and violence, and political changes.

By the middle of the 18th Century almost every part of the African west coast and west-central Africa was impacted by the trade.

Social and cultural effects of the trade on Africa

• At least 18 million African people were captured or kidnapped and forced into enslavement 

• The majority of those enslaved were young, healthy men

  • This led to a growing gender imbalance

• Population loss also led to a shortage of agricultural workers

• The threat of kidnapping or capture also led to African people living in fear of their own loved ones being enslaved

  • Towers were built to protect settlements

  • People would only travel in groups

• Fertile farming areas near rivers were often abandoned

  • African people fled inland or to more mountainous regions, where they were safer from kidnapping

  • This also contributed to food shortages

• African culture was negatively affected by the trade

  • Traditional ways of living broke down

  • The time, knowledge and people needed to develop African crafts were lost

• European traders also brought diseases with them, which had devastating effects on African societies

  • Diseases like smallpox, typhus and syphilis led to many deaths and even wiped out some communities

Political impacts of enslavement on Africa

• Around 300,000 guns per year were brought to Africa in the late 18th century

• These weapons led to a shift in political power within Africa

  • Leaders who traded with Europeans for weapons became more powerful

  • This led to an increase in war and conflict

    • Leaders would attack other states or kingdoms to capture more people

    • Some leaders believed the best way to protect their people from enslavement was to capture and enslave people from other kingdoms

• The state of Ashanti relied on the trade for its political power

  • In the 1770s, Ashanti rulers sold over 1000 people per year to European traders

    • These victims were usually captured through warfare

• In other parts of Africa, laws were changed to meet the demand for enslaved people

  • Enslavement became a common punishment for minor crimes

• The trade changed the relationship between leaders and their people

  • Leaders often began to act in their own financial interests, rather than protecting the needs of their people

Economic impacts of enslavement on Africa

• The economies of countries in western Africa became increasingly dependent on trade with Europe

  • This damaged local crafts, as they could not compete with cheap European imports

  • In Loango, cloth and copper markets were lost and replaced by the trade in enslaved people

• African agriculture was also impacted by the trade

  • Food shortages were caused by a lack of workers

  • Farming in the region changed to focus on producing crops that could be sold to slave ships

    • Maize and yuca were grown to appeal to Portuguese merchants

    • This improved profits for some farmers, but increased food shortages for the wider population

• African kingdoms became reliant upon the trade in enslaved people for economic success

  • Leaders and middlemen involved in the trade became increasingly wealthy

    • The majority who were not involved in the trade found it difficult to escape poverty

  • In the long term, kingdoms which relied on the trade struggled after the trade in enslaved people was abolished

• The loss of population had economic impacts

  • There were fewer able-bodied workers, which prevented economic growth

  • This led to economic underdevelopment in many African regions