Slave-trade profits drove African rulers to broaden enslavable crimes and famine-vulnerable debt

Evidence

As the transatlantic slave trade expanded and became more profitable, enslavement became a common form of punishment for crimes. Now enslaved, African convicts could be sold to the Europeans. Seeking to generate more funds, guns, or other goods offered in exchange for slaves, African rulers expanded the categories of crimes punishable by enslavement, including debtors unable to repay their creditors. Famine was another driver in the local slave trade. Some people pawned themselves into slavery to wealthy Africans in order to have enough to eat, only to later be sold to the Europeans because their African slave owners could no longer afford to feed them, among other reasons. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 569 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: West African rulers expanded enslavable crimes to profit from the transatlantic trade — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes…, 569; European slave demand itself intensified African intertribal warfare for profit. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes…, 567; Labor shortage and world commodity demand drove internal African slavery expansion — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 111

Broader Connections

• West African rulers expanded enslavable crimes to profit from the transatlantic trade #corroborates (0.97) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 569