Atlantic Slave Trade

Remember that Research Proposals (about 1 paragraph) are due on Friday, October 3, on TurnItIn.com.

Reading Questions, Part I (AFRICANS, Chapter 7):

• Slavery had existed in Africa as a response to what shortage? (p. 133)
• What kind of societies in Africa refused to participate in the slave trade and resisted slavery the most? (p. 133)
• Why did the Portuguese start trading in slaves? (p. 133)
• Why did the King of Kongo try to back out of the trade and what was the response? (p. 134)
• Why in 1519 did the Portuguese begin shipping slaves directly to the Americas? (p. 134)
• What sources are used to determine the numbers of slaves exported from Africa? (p. 135)
• Why did slave trading boom in the mid 17th century? (p. 135)
• What percentage of exported slaves went to the Caribbean? Brazil? North America? (p. 135)
• How could someone become a slave? (p. 136f.)
• What were slaves traded for? (pp. 138f.)
• What percentage of enslaved people died before they even started to work as slaves? (p. 139)
• How does one estimate the demographic impact of the slave trade on Africa? (pp. 141f.)
• What were the political consequences of the trade in Africa? (pp. 143ff.)
• Did the trade effect Western Africa's economic development? Why or why not? (p. 150)
• How did the trade influence religion and medicine? What is the Lemba society? (pp. 151f)
• What European nation abolished the trade, and what did they do to enforce the ban? (pp. 152f.)
• Was the transition to legitimate (non-slave) trade entirely beneficial? (pp. 154-158)
• Why did the Kongo Kingdom embrace Christianity? (pp. 158f)

Reading Questions, Part II (SHORT, Chapter 4):

• "How does the history of Africa fit into that of the rest of the world?"
• Describe two examples of how Islam and Christianity were integrated into local African cultures.
• What do the Atlantic slave trade and the Islamic slave trade have in common, and how do they differ?
• Would you agree that the Atlantic slave trade has been given too much prominence? (p. 81)
• What are two things make Baquaqua' narrative unusual/unique?
• Why should the idea of diaspora include Africa itself? (p. 85)
• What is notable about the Sokoto caliphate? (p. 88)
• What changed the balance of power in many regions? (p. 89)
• How do the four themes of this chapter illustrate the trick of "getting the balance right" between the agency of Africans and the impact of global forces (done/done to)?