History of Africa - Slavery and Suffering

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening depending on when you are reading and planning for the school year.  Just like that, I am done with the History of Africa Series!  I will soon be working on March blogs and then April blogs!  Time continues to fly through the year.  Today’s episode is called Slavery and Suffering and the run time for this episode is 45:03.

Zeinab Badawi looks at the impact of slavery on Africa itself.  Much is known about what happened to the enslaved Africans when they arrived in the Americas and Europe, but little is known about the impact on Africa.  She explores one of the eviler chapters in human history the trans-Atlantic slave trade.  She travels to several countries to see where and why the trade began.  She also talks with academics to answer the question of why some Africans helped sell their fellow Africans into slavery.

The Trans-Atlantic slave trade was from the 16th to the 18th Century.  Zeinab stops in Ghana and tours a slave trading fort.  Cape Coast Castle was built by the Swedes and would have changed hands five times.  When it was initially built, it was poorly done before it was rebuilt.  There has been a lot written about the slave trade and the slaves.  However, not much has been written about how it impacted Africans themselves.

The Arabs first traded in Africans.  Traditionally slaves were captives that were captured during war or as a result of debt.  They were captive and not sold.  They were to be taken care of.  One academic argues that this type of slavery enabled the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.  He argues that with captives it was easier to sell them off because they did not belong to your village and by in large were “strangers.”  Zeinab continues to explore this issue of indigenous slavery.  It was fascinating to hear that women fetched a higher price in Africa because they could be married, have families, and help with household chores.  I rather enjoyed hearing from both Akosua Adoma Perbi and Esi Sutherland Addy and would love to hear more from them in the future.

After this interview, Zeinab goes to Senegal and learns about the origins of the slave trade.  In 1444 the Portuguese arrived in this area and they were trying to find routes to India for the spice trade.  She goes to Cabo Verde to learn about when the Portuguese first used slaves.  She interviews Antonio Correia for this section and learns that Africans had the skill and knowledge that the Portuguese needed to establish cotton plantations.  The first slaves that arrived in Cabo Verde provided knowledge and not strength.  I rather Antonio’s commentary in this section and felt like he did a really good job in adding to the story of slavery.

Zeinab continues her exploration of Cabo and talks about how the slaves would wave the cotton into fine cloth.  She looks at pieces of cloth that would have been woven.  She learns about the techniques that were used to weave and dye the cloth.  The lack of profits encouraged the Portuguese to engage in the slave trade.  The slaves were sent on over to the Americas and sold off.  Zeinab talks with a historian about what prompted the use of Africans in forced labor. 

Zeinab tours the market where the slaves were brought and sold.  Sometimes they were tortured and executed in the square if they were disobedient.  After taking in the square Zeinab tours one of the slaves’ houses.  It was where the slaves were kept before they were transported to the Americas.  One of the most impactful features of this tour is the “door of no return.”  It was through this door that thousands and thousands of people went through never to return.  To learn more about slavery’s impact on Africa tune into the rest of this episode.

This is a topic that can stir up high emotions.  Zeinab and the historians that she interviewed handled it with great care. They laid out the facts and reality of slavery. This episode was very straightforward and forthright about slavery.  I would highly recommend showing this episode to a history classroom.  It was very well done.