Imani Simmons

Apollo History

Mr. Wimmer

September 8th, 2021

The West African coast, also deemed The Slave Coast in the 16th

through the late 19th centuries was an area in Africa where the Trans Atlantic

slave trade was most prevalent. When colonization started, The French took

over most of the West African coast, resulting in Africans being stolen off of

their own land onto European plantations to work. Slaves were sold off,

worked the fields, and slaughtered by the thousands.

Captured slaves were separated then labeled on how strong they

appeared. The price for a single slave could go from $1000 to $200,

depending on age and gender. Certain slaves, when being sold off, would be

dressed up to sell them for more or to intrigue the buyers.

During the Scramble for Africa, European imperialism starting to

flourish more, they started reaching farther into Africa’s territory. Europe was

greedy for more resources in Africa, like cheap slave labor and cheap

materials. Europe, especially Britain, wanted to establish trade links with

Africa and protect those links from other European competitors. Eventually

leading to the takeover of African territories.

 Today, Africa remains with major setbacks from European slavery. In

Africa, European imperialism turned Africa upside down, scrambling the

continent to its benefit. The benefit being Europe gaining land and being

able to enslave more people in those territories. With more territory, Europe

could take more materials from the land. Africa had a lack of preparation

after Europe had left the continent. Without an economic plan, Africa quickly

fell into debt that still lasts in the 21st century. The depletion of natural

resources destroyed Africa's different economies, leaving them nothing to

build on, forever altering how Africa works.

European imperialists left political, economic, and social scars onto

Africa that still is prevalent today in the 21st century. Europe gained strength

in its own economy and weakened Africa’s economy. Today, trading

agreements still go on and are exploitive of African countries. The debt gap

between rich countries, like Nigeria, and poor countries, like Somalia, gets

bigger and bigger. It creates economic instability between the countries of

Africa. European imperialists changed and mixed around African cultures

and put them down to show superiority in their own. Lots of African cultures

are either lost or tainted because of these colonizers. Cultural practices were

tossed aside in exchange for the European way, an example is marriages and

funerals. The French specifically, wanted to ‘civilize’ the Africans, thinking it

was their duty to do so. Europe enforced a cultural superiority over the African

people and forcefully changed up the culture. The continent of Africa

continues to still have economical disadvantages and setbacks because of

European imperialists, these are just the beginning of them.