African Slave History
African slavery existed before Europeans began exporting slaves to the Americas. In the 16th century, the Portuguese were the first to have formal agreements to trade people for goods.
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African Participation
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Rulers of the West African coast frequently exported slaves in exchange for munitions. This lowered the price of slaves, making it easier to buy them in large numbers.
Location
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Europeans exported most of their slaves from the Atlantic coast of Africa from Senegal down to Angola. Many slaves came from West African countries such as Nigeria and Ghana.
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Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
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Europeans used the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade to export Africans as free labor in the Americas from the 16th century through the 19th century. The slave ship route from Africa to the Americas was called the Middle Passage.
Emancipation
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In 1803, the Danish were the first to abolish the slave trade in Europe. In 1804, Haitians were the first to gain independence. The Middle Passage ended in 1867 when the last slave ship arrived in Cuba.
Considerations
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After emancipation, some former slaves moved back to Africa. Some blacks from the United States established the country of Liberia in the 1820s and received U.S. protection during European colonialism in Africa.
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