Atlantic slave trade's impact on West Africa, central Africa, and East Africa

Introduction

The era of the trans-Atlantic slave trade was a defining period in the demographic, social, political, and economic development of four continents. While Western European states were able to consolidate their domestic identity and power through the exploitation of the global system of trade, the effects on West African and Caribbean societies were far more destructive. In many regions of Africa, especially on the western coast, the political landscape and societal organization reworked into highly militarized states based on the export of human labourers. In the Caribbean region, caste/class slave ...