The transatlantic slave trade stands as one of the darkest chapters in human history, a brutal enterprise that spanned from the early 16th century into the 19th century. Beginning in the 15th century, European powers established coastal slave trading posts in Africa, and by the 16th century, an extensive and horrifying trade of enslaved African men, women, and children to the Americas was well underway. Over these centuries, the transatlantic slave trade transported millions from Central and West Africa, a vast majority of whom had been sold by West African slave traders.
This inhumane trade operated as a leg of the infamous “triangular trade,” a complex network that connected Europe, Africa, and the Americas. The triangular trade began with European ships laden with firearms, alcohol, textiles, and other manufactured goods, which sailed to African ports. There, these goods were exchanged for human slaves. Next, the slaves are transported across the Atlantic to America through a horrifying journey known as the Middle Passage – forming the second leg of the trade.
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Upon reaching the Americas, the ships, having offloaded their human cargo, are filled with cash crops like cotton, sugar, and tobacco, all cultivated under the toil and torment of enslaved labour. These goods are then shipped back to Europe, completing the third leg of the triangle.
Beginning of the Transatlantic Trade
The transatlantic slave trade began in 1441 with Portuguese explorers Nuno Tristão and António Gonçalves, who captured and brought twelve Africans back to Portugal. Over the following decades, Portugal and Spain expanded the trade, capturing thousands of West Africans to work as domestic servants, artisans, and labourers on sugar plantations in the Atlantic islands. Other European nations soon followed, with England’s John Hawkins establishing the triangular trade model, profiting from each leg of the journey. By the height of the trade, European powers including Portugal, Britain, France, and others had transported an estimated 12.5 million enslaved Africans to the Americas.
“Supposed” Reason for the Transatlantic Slave Trade
The demand for labour in the New World’s plantations initially led Europeans to enslave Indigenous people, but high mortality rates from overwork and disease, coupled with Spain’s mid-16th century New Laws prohibiting Indigenous enslavement, created a labour shortage. Europeans then turned to African labour, finding enslaved Africans more resilient to plantation conditions.
Religion: The Determining Factor for Enslavement
Prior to the transatlantic trade, In the Middle Ages, slavery was justified by religion rather than race, with Christians and Muslims enslaving non-believers or heretics, such as pagans or non-Catholic Europeans. By the 15th century, Spain and Portugal turned to enslaving Africans deriving validations from several Spanish laws that institutionalized racial discrimination. In addition, Papal decrees like the Doctrine of Discovery granted European powers the right to conquer non-Christian lands and enslave Indigenous people and Africans, marking the shift toward a race-based rationale for slavery. As though that was not enough, the invocation of the curse of Ham further defended African inferiority laying the basis for the ideology that supported the transatlantic slave trade.
The Transatlantic Slave Trade in Nigeria
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The transatlantic slave trade began in Nigeria in the late 15th century, as Portuguese navigators reached the Niger Delta in 1471, eager to access the lucrative Saharan gold trade. Discovering the profitability of the slave trade, these explorers began exchanging European goods for enslaved individuals and local crafts. In its early years, Europeans directly raided coastal communities, but as demand escalated, they increasingly relied on alliances with local Nigerian rulers, traders, and military elites. These local leaders, incentivized with European rum, guns, horses, textiles, and industrial products, supplied captives for export to Europe.
By 1490, over 3,000 Africans were shipped annually to Portugal and Spain. The trade expanded dramatically as European powers colonized the Americas, with Portuguese, Dutch, French, and English traders dominating the international slave market from the late 16th to early 19th centuries. While vast profits flowed to European merchants, some Nigerian intermediaries along the southwestern coast also saw economic benefits. Over the centuries, more than 3.5 million enslaved Nigerians were sent to the Americas and the Caribbean.
Resistance to the Slave Trade
At some point, these enslaved men and women resisted the transatlantic slave trade in different forms with several kingdoms and groups actively opposing the exploitation of their people. Across the Atlantic, captured Africans aboard slave ships frequently revolted. One notable example occurred on the Clare in 1729, where enslaved Africans seized control of the ship, drove the crew overboard, and eventually landed near Cape Coast Castle, freeing themselves. Other ships faced similar uprisings, where captives sank vessels, overpowered crews, and sometimes even destroyed ships to prevent further exploitation. One iconic act of defiance occurred on the ship Morovia at Dunbar Creek, now remembered as Igbo Landing, where a group of Igbo captives led by a high chief rebelled, grounding the vessel and walking into the creek in a mass act of suicide to escape enslavement.
Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade
After centuries of transatlantic slave trading which bolstered rapid industrialization in the new world, Evangelical protestants (abolitionists) like Quakers, Thomas Clarkson, and William Wilberforce who were opposed to the trade began to emerge in Britain, America, Portugal, and parts of Europe. The abolitionist movement gained momentum in the late 18th century, culminating in Britain’s decision to abolish the slave trade in 1807 and establishing the colony of Sierra Leone where former slaves were returned. The movement eventually led to international treaties that restricted the slave trade, recognizing it as an affront to justice.
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Effects of Transatlantic Slave Trade in Nigeria
The transatlantic slave trade profoundly transformed Nigeria, leading to significant social, political, and economic changes that set the stage for future upheaval. By the early 19th century, Northern Nigeria had evolved into a stratified militarized society, with power increasingly concentrated among those who could leverage European goods and military might. This shift disrupted traditional leadership structures, resulting in a loss of authority for local leaders and creating vulnerabilities that facilitated colonisation.
Economically, the decline of the slave trade gave way to a lucrative palm oil trade, particularly in the southern Delta region, where coastal cities like Lagos emerged as economic hubs. However, this wealth was not equitably distributed, exacerbating existing inequalities within society.
The competition for dominance in the slave trade fueled violent inter-tribal conflicts, particularly among groups like the Aro, Oyo, and Hausa, while the Yoruba city-states engaged in prolonged warfare over trade control. Additionally, the Islamic prohibition against enslaving Muslims led to a rise in conversions to Islam, although economic pressures meant many still fell victim to raiders.
Smaller ethnic communities in the Middle Belt were marginalized by larger, more established groups, resulting in a loss of cultural identity and autonomy.
The disruption and violence wrought by the transatlantic slave trade left Nigeria vulnerable to colonization. Similarly, traditional structures of governance and community cohesion had been severely weakened, making it easier for European powers to impose their rule.
Overall, the legacy of the slave trade left Nigeria destabilized and fragmented, creating an environment ripe for European colonization and profoundly altering its historical trajectory.