The Slave Trade Contribution to the Structure of the Atlantic Economy - Essay Example

? In what ways, and to what extent, did the slave trade contribute to the structure of the Atlantic economy? In order to understand the impact slave trade had on the Atlantic economy, one must analyze the different groups of people affected. In addition, an analysis of different sectors, which go hand in hand with economy, for example, social and political sectors must also be done. This enables an individual to put things into perspective, therefore, further comprehend the intricate details in play that led to the growth of the Atlantic economy. This essay, therefore, analyses the effects slave trade had on both the indigenous societies of Africa who supplied the slave traders with unlimited slaves and those who owned these slaves. This includes an analysis of the societies in which they lived in and the role played by their societal expectations in the growth of their economies (David 2007, p. 119). The study of the role played by society helps to put into perspective the psychological predispositions acting as driving forces behind the institution of slavery. Effects discussed in this essay includes; those had on the lifestyle of the indigenous societies, the economic boost experienced in plantation farming, the rise of merchants and the rapid rate of industrialization in European countries. African societies’ economies underwent significant transformations. Before, the introduction of the slave trade by European colonialists, African, indigenous societies thrived on their societal expectations and traditions. Societal expectations defined each society member's roles. This included the division of labor among the members on the grounds of gender and age among other factors. As a result, every member knew their roles from a remarkably early age in which agents of socialization imprinted on them. Socialization of the children either occurred through observational learning, conditional or operant learning. Observational learning involved children learning about their customs through modeling their peers or other members of society with whom they interacted. On the other hand, conditional and operant learning involved reinforcing of behavior through punishing unwanted behavior and recognizing acceptable ones. As a result, all functions of the society worked efficiently and further complemented each other. Functions relied on each other to operate efficiently. Meaning, destabilizing one function created an imbalance in the other functions leading to a breakdown in the functioning of the entire society. Since, culture played a key role in shaping people’s psychological perspectives, the adhering to gender roles took precedence. In most societies, the responsibility of providing for the family and involvement in most economic activities fell upon the men. They, therefore, engaged themselves in revenue generating activities, which helped them sustain their families, for example, agriculture and trade among others. The institution of the slave trade in the African regions adjacent to the Atlantic created an imbalance in the day-to-day functioning of the society. This is because, slave dealers hand-picked the healthy, capable members of the society especially men, to sell as slaves. As a result, the economic sectors of most societies crumbled, since only the frail, old and young remained to run the society. This had detrimental repercussions on the entire society because most importantly, it brought about a change in societal expectations. The assigning of roles based on gender and age experienced considerable readjustments, whereby, women had to fill in for their men and begun providing for their families. On the other hand, children began working at an early age to ensure the society’s survival. This also caused significant implications on the political sector, whereby, most societies had to deal with an inadequate defense function because they lacked able bodied men to defend their society. As a result, societies raided each other with the hope of capturing prisoners of war to sell them as slaves in order to safeguard their own members. This destroyed relationships between societies, and in turn, led to the destruction of trade as a lucrative economic activity. Plantation farming experienced rapid growth all around the world with the development of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Sugarcane and cotton among other products were the main crops grown in most plantations. These plantations occupied vast areas of land and were present in all continents including Africa. The indigenous population in Africa had no choice but to work within these plantations, of which were lands they once owned. Those who owned plantations grew immensely wealthy because of increased output from their farms whereas, their slaves did not benefit from this wealth. This is because of the cheap manual labor offered by the slaves sold to the plantation owners by the slave traders. It is essential to note that there existed no regulations with regard to the remuneration of slaves. This meant that plantation owners used exploitative wage payment systems, which undervalued the slaves’ tireless efforts. No institution or statutes recognized slaves as individuals with inherent rights. Racism was also prevalent during the period predominantly defined by the institution of slavery. Racism led to the inhumane treatment of these slaves, whereby they overworked, paid meager wages, flogged at the hint of displeasure by their employees, and exposed to sexual exploitation from their employers. Despite the inhumane treatment, these employers required their slaves to perform their duties without any complaints in order for them to continue reaping their massive amounts of profit. The plantation owners had to deal with constant rebellions from the demoralized employees. These rebellions were mostly subtle because they feared the repercussions that would ensue from their masters. The statutes during the slavery period granted slave owners the mandate to punish their own slaves in the event of a rebellious act. As a result, most slaves cowered in fear for their lives. Some resorted to drastic acts like murdering their employees and fleeing their place of bondage (Klein 2010, p. 210). Despite the negative implications on the psychological and social fronts, the Atlantic economy flourished because of the use of slave labor in the plantations. The massive output contributed the needed raw materials needed to supply different industries across the Atlantic. These raw materials served the purpose of making different finished products for export to different parts around the world. As a result, trading as an economic activity flourished and opened up new territories for exploration. The plantations found in Africa also solved the overpopulation crisis experienced in most of the European countries. European countries had unlimited land resources because of the rapid increase in population. Therefore, they could not set enormous tracts of land aside to serve as plantations. As a result, they sent some of their people to manage their colonies in Africa and oversee the running of the plantations. This solved both a social and economic crisis. The Trans-Atlantic trade also led to the rise of wealthy merchants. These merchants benefited from running the entire slave trade. They negotiated with the leaders of the indigenous societies to supply them with the slaves (Nwokeji 2010, p. 89). These negotiations involved promises made to these leaders to enrich their societies and guarantee them the safety of their people in exchange for slaves. As a result, these leaders rounded up their warriors and raided neighboring communities whereby, they attacked and took captives. These captives were later to be sold as slaves. Leaders of communities also used slavery as a punishment to those found guilty of breaking laws frequently. This helped to instill order within these communities because members feared the thought of captivity brought about by slavery. After, the merchants acquired the needed number of slaves they set out to transport the slaves across the Atlantic. They used ships to transport the slaves. These ships were in a deplorable condition and the slaves received inhumane treatment when on board. Many died from different ailments, for example, fever, chest related ailments like consumption (tuberculosis) (DuPlessis 1996, p. 206). They did not view slaves as human beings instead they viewed them as property, and a means to enrich themselves. Therefore, the removal of the sickly of the ship occurred in an inhumane way too; the merchants tossed them out of the ship and into the sea to drown. Those who made it deemed themselves lucky to have made it to shore, however, other hardships soon befell them. Their new masters overworked them, paid them meager earnings and psychologically, emotionally and physically abused them further. With the rise of the class of the newly rich merchants and the indigenous leaders who benefited from the slave trade, the creation of social classes occurred. The identification of people based on their social class transformed society and people’s way of life. The rich enjoyed a lavish lifestyle whereas those below them with regard to their economic status lived a simple lifestyle. The latter become the subordinates of the rich and this generated many social problems within the society. Karl Marx’s conflict theory can be used to explain why this was the case. Marx’s theory advances that conflict arises when a struggle exists between rulers and their subordinates. This is because of the difference in economic status between the two groups. The ruling class struggles to maintain their mandate over their rebellious subordinates who do not want to be ruled. Therefore, people with a higher economic status find themselves struggling to amass more wealth at the expense of their subordinates ensuring they tightly hold on to the reins of power. In this case, the rich merchants continued to gain more wealth while the indigenous societies suffered. As a result, there were constant upheavals among the indigenous societies. The Trans-Atlantic trade led to rapid industrialization in Europe. This was because of the availability of cheap raw materials needed to sustain the industries found in Europe. As described earlier, the plantation farms located around the world equipped with an unlimited supply of cheap slave laborers provided extensive amounts of raw materials. This made the production costs incurred during the farming of certain crops, for example, cotton, unusually cheap. This was due to the law income paid to the slaves for their tireless efforts on the plantations. European industries, therefore, benefited immensely from the cheapness of the raw materials. They made enormous profits, which encouraged the rapid growth of different industries, all around Europe. In addition, Europeans owned most of the freight ships used to transport the raw materials. This allowed them to control the freight charges and improve the freight technology to adapt to their developing needs. Historians disagree on the significance of the slave trade on the Atlantic economy. Some like Roger Anstey, Seymour Drescher among others advance that the slave trade played no role in the rapid growth of the economies of countries adjacent to the Atlantic (Milwood 2007, p. 256). They argue that the profits generated from the slave trade prove insufficient to provide the capital required to sustain the industrial revolution and the rapid growth rate it experienced. Moreover, these historians and their counterparts claimed that the colonies, which supplied the slaves used as a means of trade created more losses for the countries which owned them. This is because the colonies required a lot of manpower to run. The constant rebellions from the indigenous societies especially because they disapproved of the colonialists rules proved to be a challenge to maintain financially. These rebellions also required a vast number of European personnel to quash. On the other hand, prominent historians like Williams posited that the slave trade fueled the export demand within the region (Barry 1998, p. 177). In addition to that, the trade established trading networks between different countries around the globe. Historians siding with Williams on the subject under discussion further posit that a complex economic relationship existed between Africa, America and Europe (Morgan 2000, p. 156). This complex relationship made it hard for historians and other scholars to isolate Europe’s economic developments. This is because, statistics showed that 75% America’s products could be attributed to the slaves acquired from Africa. This was especially the case in the 17th and 18th centuries. The commercial revolution in America further fueled the rapid growth of the industrial revolution. Of all European countries, Britain’s industrial sector experienced drastic transformations, for example, innovation in the technology sector, organized labor within the plantations in the colonies and the concentration of capital. As a result, citizens migrated towards the regions where predominantly found. These regions slowly became urban centers leading to the spread of urbanization all over the country. Urbanization on its own contributed to both social and political changes within Europe. Social vices began to creep into the urban areas due to the lack of employment of some citizens, for example, increased crime rates and drug and substance abuse among other vices. The political scene also underwent a transformation, whereby, people solicited power from fellow members of the society. In conclusion, facts show that, slave trade in the Trans-Atlantic region did indeed play a significant role in the rapid industrialization experienced in European countries. The abolition of slavery led to a decline in the economic progress marking European’s industrialization period. In conclusion, it is clear that the social implications played a role in influencing the economic outcome of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. The fact that both the indigenous and European societies experienced an imbalance indicates that different parts of a society function simultaneously to ensure its proper functioning as a single unit. Durkheim and Parsons, prominent, sociologists known for their functionalism theory in sociology best explain this mechanism. They posit that a society consists of functions or parts which are interdependent on each other and operate simultaneously to ensure a balance persists. In the event of any disruption experienced on a single part or function, the entire system experiences destabilization by the creation of an imbalance. In the case of the Trans-Atlantic trade, the indigenous societies experienced a disruption in their social function, which automatically translated into an imbalance in the entire society. As a result, the economic and political functions experienced similar disruptions. In the case of the slave traders, their economic function recorded a transformation, which led to an imbalance in the society. The newly rich merchants created a division in the social hierarchy, whereby, the introduction of social classes occurred. The transformation of Europe’s economy also happened to lead to changes within their society and political structures, for example, Britain became a powerful nation because of the rapid rate of industrialization within the country (Solow 1993, p. 77). Bibliography Barry, B. 1998, Senegambia and the Atlantic Slave Trade. London: Cambridge University Press. Coclanis, P. 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