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Slavery, the treatment of human beings [br]as property, deprived of personal rights

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has occurred in many forms [br]throughout the world.

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Bue one institution stands out for both[br]its global scale and its lasting legacy.

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The Atlantic Slave Trade,

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occurring from the late 15th[br]to the mid 19th century,

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and spanning three continents,

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forcibly brought more than 10 million [br]Africans to the Americas.

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The impact it would leave affected[br]not only these slaves

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and their descendants,

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but the economies and histories[br]of large parts of the world.

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There had been centuries of contact[br]between Europe and Africa

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via the Mediterranean.

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But the Atlantic Slave Trade [br]began in the late 1400s

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with Portuguese colonies in West Africa,

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and Spanish settlement [br]of the Americas shortly after.

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The crops grown in the new colonies,[br]sugar cane, tobacco, and cotton,

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were labor intensive,

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and there were not enough settlers [br]or indentured servants

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to cultivate all the new land.

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American Natives were enslaved, [br]but many died from new diseases,

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while others effectively resisted.

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And so to meet the massive [br]demand for labor,

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the Europeans looked to Africa.

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African slavery had existed [br]for centuries in various forms.

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Some slaves were indentured servants,

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with a limited term [br]and the chance to buy one's freedom.

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Others were more like European serfs.

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In some societies, slaves could [br]be part of a master's family,

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own land, and even rise [br]to positions of power.

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But when white captains came offering [br]manufactured goods,

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weapons, and rum for slaves,

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African kings and merchants [br]had little reason to hesitate.

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They viewed the people they sold [br]not as fellow Africans,

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but criminals, debtors, [br]or prisoners of war from rival tribes.

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By selling them, kings enriched [br]their own realms,

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and strengthened them [br]against neighboring enemies.

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African kingdoms prospered [br]from the slave trade,

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but meeting the European's massive demand[br]created intense competition.

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Slavery replaced other criminal sentences,

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and capturing slaves [br]became a motivation for war,

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rather than its result.

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To defend themselves from slave raids,

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neighboring kingdoms [br]need European firearms,

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which they also bought with slaves.

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The slave trade had become an arms race,

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altering societies and economies [br]across the continent.

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As for the slaves themselves,[br]they faced unimaginable brutality.

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After being marched [br]to slave forts on the coast,

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shaved to prevent lice, and branded,

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they were loaded onto ships [br]bound for the Americas.

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About 20% of them [br]would never see land again.

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Most captains of the day [br]were tight packers,

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cramming as many men [br]as possible below deck.

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While the lack of sanitation [br]caused many to die of disease,

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and others were thrown [br]overboard for being sick,

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or as discipline,

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the captain's ensured their profits [br]by cutting off slave's ears

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as proof of purchase.

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Some captives took matters [br]into their own hands.

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Many inland Africans [br]had never seen whites before,

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and thought them to be cannibals,

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constantly taking people away [br]and returning for more.

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Afraid of being eaten, [br]or just to avoid further suffering,

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they committed suicide [br]or starved themselves,

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believing that in death,[br]their souls would return home.

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Those who survived [br]were completley dehumanized,

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treated as mere cargo.

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Women and children were kept above deck,[br]and abused by the crew,

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while the men were made to perform dances

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in order to keep them exercised [br]and curb rebellion.

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What happened to those Africans [br]who reached the New World

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and how the legacy of slavery [br]still affects their descendants today

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is fairly well known.

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But what is not often discussed

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is the effect that the Atlantic [br]Slave Trade had on Africa's future.

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Not only did the continent lose tens [br]of millions of its able-bodied population,

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but because most of the slaves [br]taken were men,

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the long-term demographic [br]effect was even greater.

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When the slave trade was finally [br]outlawed in the Americas and Europe,

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the African kingdoms whose economies [br]it had come to dominate collapsed,

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leaving them open [br]to conquest and colonization.

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And the increased competition [br]and influx of European weapons

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fueled warfare and instability [br]that continues to this day.

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The Atlantic Slave Trade also contributed[br]to the development of racist ideology.

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Most African slavery had no deeper reason[br]than legal punishment

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or intertribal warfare,

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but the Europeans [br]who preached a universal religion,

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and who had long ago [br]outlawed enslaving fellow Christians,

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needed justification for a practice

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so obviously at odds [br]with their ideals of equality.

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So they claimed that [br]Africans were biologically inferior,

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and destined to be slaves,

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making great efforts [br]to justify this theory.

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Thus, slavery in Europe and the Americas[br]acquired a racial basis,

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making it impossible for slaves [br]and their future descendants

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to attain equal status in society.

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In all of these ways,

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the Atlantic Slave Trade [br]was an injustice on a massive scale

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whose impact has continued [br]long after its abolition.