The Rise of the Slave Trade: Atlantic and East African Origins (1500–1800)
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Flip to reveal answersName three reasons the Atlantic slave trade expanded from the 1500s.
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All 12 Flashcards — The Rise of the Slave Trade: Atlantic and East African Origins (1500–1800)
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Question
Name three reasons the Atlantic slave trade expanded from the 1500s.
Answer
Maritime/technological advances (ships, navigation); growth of plantation agriculture; existing practice of slavery in African societies (plus warfare between African states).
Question
What is the asiento system?
Answer
A licence granted by the Spanish crown allowing merchants to supply enslaved Africans to Spanish colonies — it formalised Atlantic slave-trade demand into an organised system.
Question
Why did the East African slave trade expand from the late 18th century?
Answer
Because of the existing Arabia–Swahili coast trade, the expansion of the Sultanate of Oman into East Africa, and rising demand once the Atlantic trade began to be banned.
Question
Who was Sultan Seyyid Said and why does he matter?
Answer
Sultan of Oman (1804–1856) who moved his capital to Zanzibar in 1840 and built a clove-plantation economy on enslaved labour, making him the key individual behind the East African trade's growth.
Question
What is the 'gun-slave cycle'?
Answer
A process where firearms bought with captives enabled more warfare, which produced more captives, which bought more firearms — reinforcing both warfare and the slave trade.
Question
Compare the Atlantic and East African slave trades' main buyers.
Answer
Atlantic: European colonial powers (for American plantations). East African: Arabian/Gulf markets and Omani Zanzibar's plantations.
Question
How did plantation agriculture drive the Atlantic slave trade?
Answer
Sugar, tobacco and cotton plantations in Brazil, the Caribbean and British America needed large, cheap, controllable labour forces, which European settlers filled with enslaved Africans.
Question
What economic impact did the slave trade have on coastal African states?
Answer
Rulers who controlled the supply of captives grew wealthy and powerful by trading them for firearms, cloth, and manufactured goods.
Question
What social impact did the slave trade have on affected African societies?
Answer
Demographic damage from losing millions of young people (mostly men); increased militarisation as raiding became normal; new elites formed around control of the trade.
Question
Why does 'nature of the slave trade' require discussing both impact AND individuals?
Answer
Because the syllabus bullet explicitly asks for social/economic impact in Africa and the Middle East AND the role and significance of individuals — both must be covered for full marks.
Question
Give one example of an institution (not an individual) that organised the Atlantic trade commercially.
Answer
Chartered companies such as the Royal African Company, which organised shipping, financing and coastal trading posts.
Question
What command term structure works best for 'Examine the reasons for the expansion of the slave trade(s)'?
Answer
Organise by theme (economic, political, existing structures), use balanced evidence from both the Atlantic and East African systems, and end with a reasoned judgement on which factor mattered most.
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Topic 21.7 hub
The slave trade in Africa and the Middle East (1500-1900)
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