Give an account of the main causes of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Essay

Give an account of the main causes of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and its impact on African societies - Essay Example177).The other cause of the trade was because the labor from Africa was cheap unlike the labor they used to get back in the colonies. This because increased the trade even more as more laborers who were cheaply bought in auctions and ship paddocks were easily available. The higher the demand, the more the Africans were captured in Africa and shipped over merely for them to go and become hard workers being mistreated and humiliated by their white employers and being worked mercilessly and tirelessly.The other cause was that the African traditional leaders such(prenominal) as the chiefs wanted prosperity and they sought it through selling off some of their people to the European traders to be shipped over as slaves in founder for getting riches such as ivory, gold, beads, clothes, shoes among others. These goods they were given in exchange with the slaves were not comm wholly available and hence brought about not only wealth but prestige and more power to the leaders.The slave trade caused conflicts among the African themselves splitting some communities, resulting into deaths and permanent rift that is still present in some West African states to present. These conflict were brought about because he slaves were captured during raids of communities and once the raid took place, then conflicts between the communities ensured resulting in more fighting, death, destruction of property and policy-making system among other negative consequences (Green, 2012, pg. 179).Male slaves that were muscular and energetic were the ones sought after to be sold and this happened in large numbers as slave trade was at one point the main source of export in West Africa. This resulted in disproportion in the male population as thoroughly as break-up of the traditional family setup as women were forced to be the heads of households as well as offer security to their homesteads in addition to being the net winners. Without strong males, the Africans became vulnerable to attacks as well as dwindle in farm