Labor shortages and Atlantic commerce drove West African slavery’s expansion.

Evidence

The institution of slavery in West Africa has been explained in part by the low population-to-land ratio characteristic of the region, which often resulted in a labor shortage. These shortages encouraged the expansion of slave labor, particularly once West Africa began to be drawn into commercial exchanges with the Atlantic world. The expansion of the Atlantic slave trade in the eighteenth century marked the first important increase in both forms of internal African slavery in the modern era, particularly in Lower Senegal. Slavery expanded again after 1850, when parts of West Africa began to be drawn into production of oils for the world commodity market; slave labor was used for much of this production. Finally, extensive warfare and war-induced famines in the Western Sudan in the 188o’s and 189o’s brought renewed slave-raiding in that region, with all its attendant miseries. Warring chiefs by tradition either enslaved those they had conquered, distributed their enemies as booty to their own soldiers, or sold them into slavery. Food shortages also led to an increase in slaves, as individuals searching for food became easy targets for raiders, and owners sold off slaves they could no longer feed. The French conquest of the Western Sudan contributed to these trends by further destabilizing the region; indeed, the French military openly tolerated the continuing trade in slaves in many of their posts for reasons of political expediency. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 111

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s interest in how French colonial administration tolerated slavery in West Africa for political expediency — relevant to understanding the ‘civilizing mission’ as pretext. — connects to: Slaves formed majorities of West African town and state populations. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 109; Sugar’s labor demands drove England’s expansion into the West African slave trade.; The slave trade advanced European capitalism while underdeveloping Africa’s economies. (+10 more)
• QUESTION: How did French officials reconcile their antislavery rhetoric with the military tolerating the slave trade in their posts?
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 111

Broader Connections

• Sugar’s labor demands drove England’s expansion into the West African slave trade. #corroborates (0.60)
• Sugar’s labor demands drove England from Irish to West African slavery #corroborates (0.60)
• Sugar’s labor demands drove the English to mass importation of African slaves #corroborates (0.50)
• The slave trade advanced European capitalism while underdeveloping Africa’s economies. #expands (0.40)
• Africa supplied slave labor because its region lay outside Europe’s world-economy #contradicts (0.40)