Voyage 45, S Rosa (1817)

Part 1

The Trans-Atlantic slave trade is associated with forced migration of over 10 million Africans to the western hemisphere. The Trans-Atlantic trade did not only facilitate transportation of Africans but also led to the death of millions of Africans. All the European nations were involved in the lucrative business, but Britain stood out. Through the British voyages, they became a household name in slave trading. History suggests that the British were so dominant in the trade that they did not only carry the African slaves to the British colonies in the Caribbean and North America but also to Spain and France who were their economic rivals.

Voyage 45, S Rosa was a British ship, which was responsible for shipping slaves in the Trans-Atlantic Ocean in 1817. The British sailors owned the ship. The British Empire was situated northeast of West Africa, where the ships docked. The immense transportation of slaves by the British from Africa to America and then back to Britain led to the Trans-Atlantic trade being called the triangular trade. This name emerged as a result of the trade between the three countries because of the triangular sequence of trade.

Most of the slaves taken during the Trans-Atlantic trade by the British were from the western Africa west coast, for example, Senegal and Cameroon. Slave trade was a result of increased demand for slaves in the European countries. This led to increased slavery activities. Chiefs and traders were willing to meet the high demand for slaves, and therefore, they acquired slaves through raids and warfare on small villages and towns. However, the British did not venture inland because of fear of attacks and tropical diseases. The British often gave goods in advance to their African trade partners who would use the goods to buy slaves further inland.

The profits from slavery helped in the financing of the industrial revolution in Britain. The Caribbean islands and Northern America became the hub of British Empire. Caribbean islands and Northern America were huge producers of sugar, and therefore, most of the slaves were taken to the sugar plantations.  The plantations were British most valuable assets since more than 3 million pounds of sugar came from British colonies compared to less than a million from other colonies. History states that no British ship returned home empty and hence leading to some people making huge profits. By early 19th century, slave trade emerged to be the richest part of the British trade. This resulted in the British government investing enormously on slavery and thus materializing to the establishment of wealth class and building of banks in Britain.

Those who profited from the British involvement in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade

• Plantation owners- The owners used slave labor in their plantations. Huge profits were realized by the plantation owners who were acquiring unpaid labor. Plantation owners went back to Britain with the huge profits they had acquired and built huge mansions while others went ahead to invest their money with inventions and factories. This helped in fueling industrial revolution in Britain.
• Banks- Banking systems grew in Britain from the existence of Trans-Atlantic trade. Also, banks and financial institutions made huge profits from their interest rates and fees that they got from merchants who asked for loans to fund their voyages.

Part 2

Over the course of more than four centuries, the forcible transport in the bondage of more than 10 million women, children and men from their homelands in Africa to America has changed the character and face of the modern world forever. I think of slave trade being horrific and brutal. Enslavement of the Africans was coupled with cruelty, brutality, and exploitation. All of this represents the most sustainable assaults of human dignity, life, and integrity.

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In America, despite the considerable riches gained from free labor, in my opinion, the importation and enslavement of the African natives was a key factor in the resettlement of the continent. This is because between the 1440s and 1770s there was a disastrous decline in the indigenous American population whereby over 6 million people migrated to the western hemisphere. Despite the victimization and exploitation of the Africans, they led to the creation of a new African creole society. This has led to the emergence of the black Atlantic.

Capitalism is an ideology that the modern world has embraced. I would like to credit Trans-Atlantic slave trade for leading to its foundation. The trade saw a generation of a lot of wealth for businesses in both Europe and America that saw the rise of capitalism. The trade is credited for the British industrialization and most European countries. However, I view the overwhelming impact of Trans-Atlantic trade in Africa and the African involvement in the creation of the new world to be negative. The reason behind this argument is that Africa has experienced a massive loss in a significant part of their healthy population. This played a part in the political and social weakening of the African societies which left them vulnerable to colonial exploitation and domination.