African Immigrants to the New World
By: Isaias Torres
How different were African societies in the Old World compared to the New World?
Finding: African American communities were able to keep some elements of their original societies, but other aspects were lost.
West African Societies
- Tropical forests and Savannah grasslands
- Heavily influenced by Islamic culture of the Mediterranean because of trade routes
- Decentralized political and social authority in the region
- Labor divided by gender (shared agriculture duties, but men hunted and women cared for children and prepared food)
- Men and women held leadership positions in villages and religious groups
- Source: A People and a Nation (7th Edition)
Slavery in Africa (Specifically Guinea)
- Africans exchanged ivory, gold, and slaves to northern merchants for salt, dates, silk, and cotton cloth
- Slaves essential to the economy as a source of labor
- Could be enslaved for life for punishment of a crime
- More often they were enemies captured
- Some voluntarily offered themselves or their children as slaves to pay a debt
- Degree of treatment varied greatly
- Source: A People and a Nation (7th Edition) Image Source: PBS.com
Traded from Africa to New World
- Experience with plantation system in the Canaries and Madeiras off the African coasts
- Portuguese sent African slaves to European manufacturers throughout 1400s
- Recreated system in Caribbean and Brazil
- Source: A People and a Nation (7th Edition) Image Source: UNESCO