Logan1

Linda Logan
Prof. W. Alexander
HIs-490AF-90
2 March 2015

Part A: African Diaspora Concepts

Diaspora is an ancient term that originally referred to the dispersal of Jewish people
around the world before and after their release from enslavement in Egypt, which is referred to in
the Book of Exodus, the second book of the Holy Bible. The word diaspora and its accepted use
by African studies scholars began in 1965 to describe African migrations within their own
continent and coastal islands; to countries that bordered the Indian Ocean, including the Middle
East and Asia, The Red and Mediterranean Seas and eventually, the coastal islands, Southern
European countries and the continent of the Americas that bordered the Atlantic Ocean to the
North and West.
Manning breaks down this complex phenomenon by organizing the the dispersal of
African peoples throughout the world, into three categories: African Homeland, The Old World,
and The Atlantic. By doing so, he is able to fit the entire range of the African diaspora into a
chronological and linear format so that we are able to see the connections, interconnections,
similarities and to some degree, the differences among the experiences of those within the entire
African diasporic community.
I have to say at this point before I continue, that I thoroughly enjoyed these readings, not
only is the writing, especially Manning, clear and concise, but the organization and breadth of his
storytelling is enthralling, I cant put the book down. I was excited to take this class because I
took History 371 last year and I had so many unanswered questions as to how and why Africa as

Logan2

a continent descended into conquest, colonization and slavery; and how these internal and
external forces have contributed to her irrelevant status in today world economy, having once
been the most dominant economy on the world stage only a few centuries prior.
Throughout history, Europeans especially, have stolen, conquered and killed innocent
native societies arbitrarily to satisfy their greed for status, land, wealth and power, none of these
elements are effective without the others. However, within the Old World Diaspora slavery was
commonplace though it was not operated on a large scale. It was not the driving force behind the
old world economy and had not become a way of life for most Africans as slaves or as
merchants. During this time before the Atlantic slave began, slavery was seen more as a cultural
necessity for the elite and ruling classes. Domestics, nannies, concubines, artists/musicians,
soldiers and some agricultural workers were bought on specific order. It was not until the
Portuguese created and refined the plantation system of sugar production that the African slave
trade was recognized as the best option for procuring skilled and unlimited labor.
What made the Atlantic Slave trade so detrimental to African Society once the trading
also was operating at its peak level in the mid to late 1700s, it began to destabilize the African
population in the Western and Central regions of Africa. When the Portuguese defeated the
Asante for control over Angola, this became not only the largest port city for slave trading, it also
became the mouth of the pipeline into central Africa for unlimited slave capture.
It was almost as if, they had the desire to strip Africa of all of her natural resources, by
then slave trading had become more lucrative than the sale of gold, copper and salt combined,
historically the trading system had been based on these commodities.
Other African and European countries who had not participated in the slave trade thus far,
where hurried to capture a piece of this market for themselves. The Dutch entered the picture and

Logan3

picked up where the Portuguese left off. The Dutch built bigger ships and reduced slave
mortality during the middle passage to acceptable limits to maximize profits and to keep slave
trade expenses at a minimum.
The Dutch expanded the market and became the leader in the Atlantic slave trade along
with the English. They were responsible for most of the captives being shipped to North America
and Europe. The Portuguese, however, still controlled the shipping lanes and slave trading with
the Atlantic Ocean islands, the Caribbean, Central, and South America.
At the peak of the slave trade, there were powerful countries vying for African captives to
sustain the emerging need for labor and raw materials in their increasingly industrializing
nations, as a result, the race for colonization of Africa and the Americas began. Whoever
controlled the most natural resources of land, minerals, and labor to create new technology and
build city infrastructure would be considered the most powerful and dominant world power.
However Africans, slave and free alike, had a differing opinion. As overwhelming as the
system of slavery as it related to the industrialization of emerging world powers, Africans did not
give up or did they go quietly. Violence and atrocities committed by European and African slave
traders against the African captives was met with fierce resistance. Some fought back knowing
that death was a certainty while others plotted and where able to overthrow slave ships and sail
back to the African coast; others simple just threw themselves overboard for because they would
rather die free, than live as a slave. Other slave resistance occurred on the African continent as
well. Some kingdoms adverse to the slave trade began wars and conquered slave trading African
countries in protection of their way of life, their land and their people. Also, another part of the
resistance came from, the writing and speaking out on the slave trade by free Africans and
former slaves who lived in Europe and the Americas. Other aspects of the resistance came from

Logan4

the religious and abolitionist movements that began to spring up in Europe and in the Americas
as well. Missionaries who been sent to Africa to spread Christianity, had witnessed the
abhorrence of slavery and the effects on the African people, and were now beginning to
document their experiences in order to tell the true story. World leaders began to listen, England,
once a world leader in the slave trade, outlawed the slave trade and utilized the Royal Navy to
intercept any and all slaving vessels in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. This action was the first
cornerstone laid in the total abolishment of slavery. I am not sure that Englands response was
totally in respect to the slave trade only. I believe, to a certain extent, that England played this
part in order to stymie the industrialization process occurring in North America, and to ensure the
US progress did not over take the hegemony of Great Britain.
As the slave trade in the Atlantic increased it started to affect the old world diaspora
economy as well. As the Western and Central regions of Africas population was depleted, and
still more captives were needed, slave trading on the East coast increased as well.
To conclude, the impact of slavery and colonization on Africa created a void in the
family, social, political and economic structures of Africa. Once the slave trade, and slavery were
outlawed. Africa was not allowed to regain her footing on the world trading stage that it once
had. After World War II, colonization and slavery came to end in Africa and in spite of all of the
economic benefits that were gained by colonial powers, they were not about to leave behind any
upgrades that were created as a result. They destroyed the roads, transportation systems,
hospitals, and schools that had been built and they even went as far as to raze farmland and
burned forestry to the degree that nothing would grow there, ensuring that Africa would not
regain her full glory for centuries to come.