Slave Trade.

Slavery had existed in Africa long before Europeans arrived on its West Coast. Individuals were captured in wars, sentenced to slavery as punishment for crimes, or chose slavery over starvation when famines and disease made it impossible to grow enough food or earn enough to buy it. Women were more desirable than men since most slaves were put to work raising crops, considered by many African nations as women's work. There were also enslaved craftsmen, warriors, and even a few individuals who acted as advisers to tribal chiefs and kings. In time Europeans would change the dynamics of the slave trade, but that would not be until the great exportations of people in the eighteenth century. Even at its height, however, the trade was not all that well organized; nor was it controlled by Europeans, who found that West Africa was too unhealthy...