S.D. AP Global
African Slave Trade Slavery has existed for thousands of years throughout the world, particularly in Africa, where most slaves came from. Around 1450-1750, Caribbean slavery and Trans-Saharan slavery were at their heights, and millions of Africans were traded and sold around the world, shaping the future for the African world. Slavery in East and West Africa has had major impacts on Africa politically. Africans in the west and the east are born with unalienable rights; however, when they were captured and made slaves, they lost their rights every human should have. They became property of another human being. Also, in both coasts of Africa, slavery shifted the balance of political power, from powerful central states to newly emerging slave-trading kingdoms on the coastlines, who became wealthy due to slave trade. At the end of African slave trade, nations participating in West African slave trade eventually decided that it was wrong, and not only ceased slave trading, but placed fleets of ships to interdict slavers and return cargoes of slaves to the African coasts. They arrested and prosecuted the slavers, and withdrew their vessels. The eastern slaving nations never had such qualms until it was forced onto them by the colonial powers. Economically, African Slavery made many coastal kingdoms very prosperous and wealthy. In both West and East African slave trade, Africans were captured by various African rulers and brought to the coasts to be traded for items such as weaponry and manufactured goods. Also many Africans had slaves, because having a slave or slaves, was a sign of wealth and prestige to others. Although very beneficial, western slave trade was more costly than eastern slave trade because it was a longer journey across the Atlantic ocean, whereas eastern slave trade was a much shorter distance to northern Africa, and southern Asia. Sailing conditions were very different in the east and west as well. Western slave trade used tightly packed ships, whereas eastern slave trade used loosely packed ships. This major difference impacted the value of these slaves when they