Editing Atlantic slave trade (section)

===European colonization and slavery in West-Central Africa===
[[File:ElMina AtlasBlaeuvanderHem.jpg|thumb|[[Elmina Castle]] in the [[Guinea (region)|Guinea coast]], present-day [[Ghana]], was built in 1482 by Portuguese traders and was the first European-slave trading post in Sub-Saharan Africa.<ref>{{cite web |title=Elmina Castle |url=https://www.pbs.org/wonders/Episodes/Epi3/elmina.htm#:~:text=Located%20on%20the%20western%20coast,British%20ownership%20in%20the%201800s. |website=[[PBS]] |access-date=18 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240118160445/https://www.pbs.org/wonders/Episodes/Epi3/elmina.htm#:~:text=Located%20on%20the%20western%20coast,British%20ownership%20in%20the%201800s. |archive-date=18 January 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Womber |first1=Peter Kwame |title=From Anomansa to Elmina: The Establishment and the Use of the Elmina Castle – From the Portuguese to the British |journal=[[Athens Journal of History]] |date=2020 |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=349–372 |doi=10.30958/ajhis.6-4-4 |url=https://www.athensjournals.gr/history/2020-6-4-4-Womber.pdf |access-date=18 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240118160446/https://www.athensjournals.gr/history/2020-6-4-4-Womber.pdf |archive-date=18 January 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>]]

The Atlantic slave trading of Africans began in 1441 with two Portuguese explorers, [[Nuno Tristão]] and António Gonçalves. Tristão and Gonçalves sailed to [[Mauritania]] in [[West Africa]] and kidnapped twelve Africans and returned to Portugal and presented the captive Africans as gifts to [[Prince Henry the Navigator]]. By 1460, seven hundred to eight hundred African people were taken annually and imported into Portugal. In Portugal, the Africans taken were used as domestic servants. From 1460 to 1500, the removal of Africans increased as Portugal and Spain built [[slave fort|forts]] along the coast of West Africa. By 1500, Portugal and Spain had taken about 50,000 thousand West Africans. The Africans worked as domestic servants, artisans, and farmers. Other Africans were taken to work the [[History of sugar|sugar plantations]] on the [[Azores]], [[Madeira]],<ref name="Butel2002">{{cite book |last1=Butel |first1=Paul |title=The Atlantic |year=2002 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-134-84305-3 |page=38 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sLGIAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA38 |quote=For labour in the plantations and the 80 engeñhos (sugar mills), the Portuguese began to bring slaves from the Canaries and Africa, reaching almost 2,000 in number by the end of the fifteenth century. |access-date=13 July 2024 |archive-date=13 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240713165411/https://books.google.com/books?id=sLGIAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA38 |url-status=live}}</ref> Canary, and [[Cape Verde|Cape Verde islands]]. Europeans participated in African enslavement because of their need for labor, profit, and religious motives.<ref>{{cite web |title=Africa, Europe, and the Rise of Afro-America, 1441-1619 |url=https://www.njstatelib.org/research_library/new_jersey_resources/highlights/african_american_history_curriculum/unit_2_rise_of_afro-americans/#:~:text=In%201441%20two%20Portuguese%20explorers,taken%20annually%20into%20Portugal%2C%20for |website=[[New Jersey State Library]] |access-date=16 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240620204329/https://www.njstatelib.org/research_library/new_jersey_resources/highlights/african_american_history_curriculum/unit_2_rise_of_afro-americans/ |archive-date=20 June 2024}}</ref><ref name="The Transatlantic Slave Trade">{{cite web |title=The Transatlantic Slave Trade |url=https://www.nps.gov/ethnography/aah/aaheritage/histcontextsc.htm |website=African American History and Ethnography |publisher=[[National Park Service]] |access-date=16 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240503083908/https://www.nps.gov/ethnography/aah/aaheritage/histcontextsc.htm |archive-date=3 May 2024}}</ref>

Upon discovering new lands through their naval explorations, European colonisers soon began to migrate to and settle in lands outside their native continent. Off the coast of Africa, European migrants, under the directions of the [[Kingdom of Castile]], [[Conquest of the Canary Islands|invaded and colonised]] the [[Canary Islands]] during the 15th century, where they converted much of the land to the production of wine and sugar. Along with this, they also captured native Canary Islanders, the [[Guanches]], to use as slaves both on the Islands and across the Christian Mediterranean.{{sfn|Thornton|1998|pp=28–29}}

[[File:Cannons at Cape Coast Castle.JPG|thumb|Established in [[Ghana]] by the [[Swedish Africa Company|Swedish African Company]], [[Cape Coast Castle]] was built in 1653 as a trading post that later expanded to other European nations. With the arrival of British colonization, Cape Coast Castle became the headquarters of British colonial administration. "Throughout the 18th century, the Castle served as a 'grand emporium' of the [[Bristol slave trade|British slave trade]]."<ref>{{cite web |title=Cape Coast Castle, Cape Coast (1653) |url=https://www.ghanamuseums.org/forts/cape-coast-castle.php#:~:text=Cape%20Coast%20Castle%2C%20Cape%20Coast%20(1653)&text=The%20Swedes%2C%20led%20by%20Krusenstjerna,King%20Charles%20X%20of%20Sweden. |website=Ghana Museums and Monuments Boards |access-date=18 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240709053738/https://www.ghanamuseums.org/forts/cape-coast-castle.php |archive-date=9 July 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Roth |first1=Catherine |title=Cape Coast Castle (1652- ) |url=https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/cape-coast-castle/ |website=Blackpast.org |date=2 December 2009 |access-date=18 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211111323/https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/cape-coast-castle/ |archive-date=11 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Cape Coast Castle History |url=https://www.everycastle.com/Cape-Coast-Castle.html |website=Castles and Places of the World |access-date=18 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240711042755/https://everycastle.com/cape-coast-castle/ |archive-date=11 July 2024}}</ref>]]

After the success of Portugal and Spain in the slave trade other European nations followed. In 1530, an English merchant from Plymouth, [[William Hawkins (died c. 1554)|William Hawkins]], visited the [[Guinea (region)|Guinea Coast]] and left with a few slaves. In 1564, Hawkin's son [[John Hawkins (naval commander)|John Hawkins]], sailed to the Guinea Coast and his voyage was supported by [[Elizabeth I|Queen Elizabeth I]]. John later turned to piracy and stole 300 Africans from a Spanish slave ship after failures in Guinea trying to capture Africans as most of his men died after fights with the local Africans.<ref name="The Transatlantic Slave Trade"/>

As historian John Thornton remarked, "the actual motivation for European expansion and for navigational breakthroughs was little more than to exploit the opportunity for immediate profits made by raiding and the seizure or purchase of trade commodities".{{sfn|Thornton|1998|p=31}} Using the Canary Islands as a naval base, Europeans, at the time primarily Portuguese traders, began to move their activities down the western coast of Africa, performing raids in which slaves would be captured to be later sold in the Mediterranean.{{sfn|Thornton|1998|pp=29–31}} Although initially successful in this venture, "it was not long before African naval forces were alerted to the new dangers, and the Portuguese [raiding] ships began to meet strong and effective resistance", with the crews of several of them being killed by African sailors, whose boats were better equipped at traversing the [[Central Africa|west-central African]] coasts and river systems.{{sfn|Thornton|1998|p=37}}

[[File:Ann Zingha.jpg|thumb|[[Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba]] fought against the expansion of the Portuguese Empire and their slave trade in a thirty-year war in present-day Angola.]]

By 1494, the Portuguese king had entered agreements with the rulers of several West African states that would allow trade between their respective peoples, enabling the Portuguese to "tap into" the "well-developed commercial economy in Africa ... without engaging in hostilities".{{sfn|Thornton|1998|pp=38}} "Peaceful trade became the rule all along the African coast", although there were some rare exceptions when acts of aggression led to violence. For instance, Portuguese traders attempted to conquer the [[Bissagos Islands]] in 1535.{{sfn|Thornton|1998|p=39}} 

In 1571, Portugal, supported by the [[Kingdom of Kongo]], took control of the south-western region of [[Portuguese Angola|Angola]] in order to secure its threatened economic interest in the area. Although Kongo later joined a coalition in 1591 to force the Portuguese out, Portugal had secured a foothold on the continent that it continued to occupy until the 20th century.{{sfn|Thornton|1998|p=40}} Despite these incidents of occasional violence between African and European forces, many African states ensured that any trade went on in their own terms, for instance, imposing custom duties on foreign ships. In 1525, the Kongolese King [[Afonso I of Kongo|Afonso I]] seized a French vessel and its crew for illegally trading on his coast. In addition, Afonso complained to the king of Portugal that Portuguese slave traders continued to kidnap his people, which was causing depopulation in his kingdom.<ref>{{cite web |title=Africa and the Transatlantic Slave Trade |url=https://www.slps.org/cms/lib/MO01001157/Centricity/Domain/9446/BBC%20-%20History%20-%20British%20History%20in%20depth_%20Africa%20and%20the%20Transatlantic%20Slave%20Trade.pdf |website=St. Louis Public Schools |access-date=20 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240330215334/https://www.slps.org/cms/lib/MO01001157/Centricity/Domain/9446/BBC%20-%20History%20-%20British%20History%20in%20depth_%20Africa%20and%20the%20Transatlantic%20Slave%20Trade.pdf |archive-date=30 March 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Thornton|1998|p=39}}

[[Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba]], who ruled as queen of the [[Ambundu]] Kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Ndongo|Ndongo]] (1624–1663) and [[Kingdom of Matamba|Matamba]] (1631–1663) in present-day Angola, fought a long war against the Portuguese Empire's expansion. Initially, Nzinga accommodated the Portuguese. She converted to Christianity and repositioned the Ndongo Kingdom as an intermediary in the slave trade instead of as a source for slaves. This also provided her with a valuable ally against hostile neighbouring African Kingdoms, however the Portuguese continued to encroach on her Kingdom to expand the slave trade and establish settlements.<ref>{{cite web |title=Queen Nzinga managed to call a halt to Portuguese slave raids in her kingdom through clever tactics |url=https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/world-changing-women-queen-nzinga |website=The Open University, History and Arts |publisher=[[The Open University]] |access-date=18 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604172701/https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/world-changing-women-queen-nzinga |archive-date=4 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Queen Nzinga(1583-1663) |url=https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/queen-nzinga-1583-1663/ |website=Black Past |date=16 June 2009 |access-date=18 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203143926/https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/queen-nzinga-1583-1663/ |archive-date=3 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Women Leaders in African History: Ana Nzinga, Queen of Ndongo |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pwmn_2/hd_pwmn_2.htm |website=[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] |access-date=18 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240702032528/https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pwmn_2/hd_pwmn_2.htm |archive-date=2 July 2024}}</ref>

Nzinga called for the end to the raids, however the Portuguese declared war on Ndongo in 1626. Nzinga allowed sanctuary to runaway slaves from Portuguese controlled territory and organized a military called ''kilombo'' against the Portuguese. Within two years, Nzinga's army was defeated and she went into exile. She later conquered the Kingdom of Matamba and entered into an alliance with the [[Dutch West India Company]] and former rival African states. With their help, Nzinga was able to reclaim large parts of Ndongo between 1641 and 1647. Nzinga continued to fight the Portuguese until a peace treaty was signed in 1656.<ref>{{cite web |title=Queen Nzinga managed to call a halt to Portuguese slave raids in her kingdom through clever tactics |url=https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/world-changing-women-queen-nzinga |website=The Open University, History and Arts |publisher=[[The Open University]] |access-date=18 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604172701/https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/world-changing-women-queen-nzinga |archive-date=4 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Queen Nzinga(1583-1663) |url=https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/queen-nzinga-1583-1663/ |website=Black Past |date=16 June 2009 |access-date=18 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203143926/https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/queen-nzinga-1583-1663/ |archive-date=3 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Women Leaders in African History: Ana Nzinga, Queen of Ndongo |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pwmn_2/hd_pwmn_2.htm |website=[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] |access-date=18 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240702032528/https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pwmn_2/hd_pwmn_2.htm |archive-date=2 July 2024}}</ref>

Historians have widely debated the nature of the relationship between these African kingdoms and the European traders. The Guyanese historian [[Walter Rodney]] (1972) has argued that it was an unequal relationship, with Africans being forced into a "colonial" trade with the more economically developed Europeans, exchanging raw materials and human resources (i.e. slaves) for manufactured goods. He argued that it was this economic trade agreement dating back to the 16th century that led to Africa being underdeveloped in his own time.{{sfn|Rodney|1972|pp=95–113}} These ideas were supported by other historians, including Ralph Austen (1987).{{sfn|Austen|1987|pp=81–108}} This idea of an unequal relationship was contested by John Thornton (1998), who argued that "the Atlantic slave trade was not nearly as critical to the African economy as these scholars believed" and that "African manufacturing [at this period] was more than capable of handling competition from preindustrial Europe".{{sfn|Thornton|1998|p=44}} However, Anne Bailey, commenting on Thornton's suggestion that Africans and Europeans were equal partners in the Atlantic slave trade, wrote:

{{blockquote|[T]o see Africans as partners implies equal terms and equal influence on the global and intercontinental processes of the trade. Africans had great influence on the continent itself, but they had no direct influence on the engines behind the trade in the capital firms, the shipping and insurance companies of Europe and America, or the plantation systems in Americas. They did not wield any influence on the building manufacturing centres of the West.<ref>{{cite book |first=Anne C. |last=Bailey |url=https://archive.org/details/africanvoicesofa00bail |title=African Voices of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Beyond the Silence and the Shame |publisher=[[Beacon Press]] |date=2005 |page=62 |isbn=978-0-8070-5512-0 |quote=Africans were equal partners.}}</ref>}}