Like most of you, I’ve been following the ongoing debate between fellow staffer Vincent Flowers and those concerned readers who felt compelled to write in and express their own strongly worded opinions about slavery, racism, and how we should all peacefully coexist in this great nation of ours. I recently sat down with RWC Assistant Professor of History Dr. John McNay, who was able to clear up some inaccuracies existing on both sides of this argument.
First and foremost, the quotes regarding the scale of the Atlantic slave trade, both in terms of those transported and those who died, were badly inflated on both sides.
From roughly 1500 to 1800, about twelve million slaves were transported from Africa to the Americas. This number does not include the hundreds of thousands who died enroute from their point of capture to the slave ports and in the floating tombs that carried slaves to the New World. However, this is a far cry from the “over 100 million” said to have died, as previously stated.
In addition, these figures include all slaves bound for North, South, and Central America and the Caribbean. Of these, about five percent, or 600,000, actually wound up here in North America. Historical data, as insubstantial as it is, exists to support these numbers; anything more would be speculation.
Another relevant issue that neither side touched on was the role that Africans themselves played in the slave trade. It’s a common misconception that slavery was something that Europeans introduced to the African people, when in fact, slavery had existed there for centuries, and the European traders simply tapped into the existing market and caused it to greatly expand as African traders took advantage of the lucrative market.
According to McNay, during this period the continent of Africa was ruled by powerful kingdoms. Their economic and military strength allowed Africans to determine how trade with Europe would develop. European traders depended on their cooperation and would usually not have been capable of traveling inland without the permission and assistance of the African rulers. Further, Europeans were easy victims of tropical diseases. These two factors prevented the Europeans from imposing their will on Africa until the late 19th century, after the ending of the slave trade by Britain and after the ending of slavery in America.
The Atlantic slave trade was certainly responsible for distorting the African economy, especially because African kingdoms and businessmen became economically dependent on the wealth it generated. In fact, even after the importation of slaves was outlawed by Britain, African nations still continued to try to smuggle slaves.
McNay adds, “Slavery is a terrible thing, a great tragedy, and there is a lot of blame to go around. When you talk about such things, it’s important to be accurate.”
Professor McNay also wants to remind students that when they’re looking for historical information they should look for data generally agreed upon by historians of an issue, in this case, slavery. Seizing on information from the extreme right or left is not useful, because statistics are skewed to support their own agendas.
For those interested in the above topics, Professor McNay suggests the book “Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World: 1400-1800,” by John Thornton, which offers a more thorough interpretation of these events.