Question

Though colonialism may have officially ended, the effects of colonialism are still very much present today. This is true in modern-day Africa.

Review the following resources for additional information on the slave trade in Africa:

• Origins of African Slaves: Slave Trade Routes
• Lasting Effects of Slavery on Africa
• African Countries and Independence Dates

Select 1 of the following countries from which the most slaves originated:

• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Ghana
• Ivory Coast

Answer 1

Origin of African slaves and slave trade routes :

• Slavery was prevalent in many parts of Africa for many centuries before the begining of the atlantic slave trade. Atlantic slave trade involved the transportation of the enslaved African people mainly to Europe and America. This practice existed from the 16th to the 19th centuries. The vast majority of African who were enslaved where from Western and Central Africa. The slave trade used the traingular trade route and its middle passage. The triangular trade, connected the economies of three continents. Between 25 to 30 million people were transported from their homes and sold as slaves in the different slave trading systems.
• The trade proceeded in three steps: Loaded with goods which were to be exchanged for slaves, ships left from Western Europe to Africa. Upon their arrival in Africa the captians traded their merchandise for captive slaves. The merchandise that were traded includes Weapons, gun powder, textiles, pearls and other manufactured goods. The exchange could last from one week to several months. The second step was crossing the Atlantic. Africans were transported to America to be sold throughout the continent. The third step connected America to Europe. The slave traders bought back agricultural products, produced by the slaves. The main product was sugar followed by cotton and coffee. This circuit lasted for approximately eighteen months. Spain,Portungal, Netherlands, England and France were the main traingular trading countries.

Effects of Slavery :

• Literacy : Africa's history of slave exporting had a long term consequences on its literacy rates. The areas with a relatively high slave exporting history tended to have lower levels of literacy compared to other areas.
• fuelling of conflicts and long lasting rifts between communities.
• the devastation resulting from the slave trade and absense of able-bodied people made it easy for the European powers to move in and colonise.
• the trade had a disproportionate impact on the male population, because the male slaves were the most sought after in America.
• Ethnic Fractionalization: The detrimental impacts of the slave trades arise because the capture of slaves occured by Africans raiding other Africans. Villages began raiding each other , destroying the established codes of conduct. The networks and federations of villages that had formed were destroyed as a result of the increased warfare,conflict and the suspicion generated by the slave trade in the nineteenth century.
• State fragmentation and weakening of states: Conflict between communities caused by the external demands of slaves resulted in the conflict within the communities and their fragmentation.
• Deterioration of legal institutions
• Persistence of predatory behavior

African Countries and Independence Dates :

Algeria

July 15th,1962

Angola

November 11,1975

Benin

August 1st, 1960

Botswana

September 30th, 1966

Burkina Faso

August 5, 1960

Burundi

July 1st, 1962

Cameroon

January 1, 1960

Chad

August 11, 1960

Comoros

July 6,1975

Congo

August 15, 1960

Congo DR

June 30, 1960

Djibouti

June 27th,1977

Egypt

February 28th ,1922

Eq Guinea

October 12, 1968

Eritrea

May 24, 1993

Gabon

August 17, 1960

Gambia

February 18th ,1965

Ghana

6 March 1957

Guinea

October 2nd, 1958

Guinea Bissau

10th September 1974

Kenya

December 12th,1963

Liberia

July 26,1847

Libya

December 24, 1951

Madagascar

June 26th 1960

Mauritius

March 12th,1968

Morocco

March 2,1956

Nigeria

October 1st,1960

Seychelles

June 29th,1976

Somalia

July 1st, 1960

South Africa

11th December 1931,

April 1994( end of apartheid)

Sudan

January 1st,1956

Tanzania

April 26th , 1964

Togo

April 27th, 1960

Tunisia

March 20, 1956

Uganda

October 9, 1962

Zambia

October 24,1964

Zimbabwe

April 18,1980

Democratic Republic of the Congo :

• Democratic Republic of the Congo, country located in central Africa. Officially known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the country has a 25-mile (40-km) coastline on the Atlantic Ocean but is otherwise landlocked. It is the second largest country on the continent; only Algeria is larger. The capital, Kinshasa, is located on the Congo Riverabout 320 miles (515 km) from its mouth. The largest city in central Africa, it serves as the country’s official administrative, economic, and cultural centre. The country is often referred to by its acronym, the DRC, or called Congo (Kinshasa), with the capital added parenthetically, to distinguish it from the other Congo republic, which is officially called the Republic of the Congo and is often referred to as Congo (Brazzaville).
• Congo gained independence from Belgium in 1960. From 1971 to 1997 the country was officially the Republic of Zaire, a change made by then ruler Gen. Mobutu Sese Seko to give the country what he thought was a more authentic African name. “Zaire” is a variation of a term meaning “great river” in local African languages; like the country’s current name, it refers to the Congo River, which drains a large basin that lies mostly in the republic. Unlike Zaire, however, the name Congo has origins in the colonial period, when Europeans identified the river with the kingdom of the Kongo people, who live near its mouth. Following the overthrow of Mobutu in 1997, the country’s name prior to 1971, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was reinstated. Congo subsequently was plunged into a devastating civil war; the conflict officially ended in 2003, although fighting continued in the eastern part of the country.