African Slave Trade Around the World

A Black In Latin America episode entitled '"Cuba: The Next Revolution” mentioned that Cuba received almost twice as many African slaves as America. Similar to African Americans, Afro-Cubans had to and still have to fight for racial equality.

I find it very intriguing learning about slavery in different countries. Throughout my whole academic career I’ve taken world history courses that I’d think would talk more about African slavery in different countries. Clearly they have not because I never would have realized that other nations received more African slaves than America did. They may have did a brief mention of the slave trade history in other countries but nothing that would stick with me like what I’ve learned so far in my Communication and the Black Diaspora class. 

I’ve always wanted to travel to different countries and learning about the history of Cuba and Brazil has made that desire even greater. Not only do I want to visit these other countries, but I want to become more educated on their rich history. 

To further my knowledge of the Transatlantic Slave Trade I watched the 7 minute video listed below. I already knew about the general elements of slavery like how Africans were forcibly taken from their homes to work as slaves but this video helped me understand where a majority of that slavery took place. Brazil, as I learned last week, was the largest importer of African slaves at that time, receiving about 40% of the total number of slaves. Aspects of African culture can be found all throughout Brazil due to the amount of Africans that were transported and still live in Brazil. Next, the British Caribbean Colonies received about 2.5 million slaves. The Jamaican Maroon wars and the Haitian revolution are both examples of the African slaves in these colonies fighting for their freedom. Third, were the Spanish Americas (Present-day Mexico, Columbia, Venezuela, etc.) which imported around 1.5 million slaves. Some elements of African culture such as music, dance, and religion can still be found in these nations because of the slave trade. Fourth, were the French Caribbean Colonies which received approximately 1.2 million slaves. The slaves of these colonies also resisted by partaking in the Haitian Revolution which eventually led to the first independent black republic being created, Haiti. Finally, the United States imported about 400,000 African slaves. As I knew already, due to being born and raised in the U.S., the effects of the African slave trade can still be seen today through the ongoing fight for racial equality.