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Essay On African American Slave Trade

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Many African nations strongly opposed slave trading and vigorously fought against the transatlantic slave trade and the enslavers that attempted to infiltrate their kingdoms. As early as1454, explorer Alvise Ca’Damosto, explained his interaction with Africans on the River Gambia:

In the 1600s, Queen Nzinga Mbande of the Ndongo and Matamba Kingdoms (modern-day Angola) was force to reckon with in her development of ingenious methods that thwarted off the Portuguese slave trader’s demands for her kingdom to enter into slave trade concessions. She also offered a safe place for runaway slaves and Portuguese-trained African soldiers to build her army. Since intergovernmental or human rights organizations did not exist to advocate for the extraordinary violations of human rights that defined every …show more content…
most smaller nations had to fend for themselves. Most Africans did not have a powerful leader such as Queen Mbande or the proper weaponry needed to arm themselves. Instead, these nations relied on their own wits and skill to device protection for their people. For instance, many ethnic groups covered pathways that led to their towns and diverted rivers to prevent boat access to their village. Some nations relocated to high areas that made it easy to detect intruders. They also raid-proofed their villages and towns by constructing fortresses that were surrounded with tall walls and deep ditches. Men taught women and young children the art of war to fight the enemy. Armed guards were also posted at vulnerable entry points and instructed to kill any outsider at first site to prevent any incursion. Some nations went to the extent of prohibiting any European goods in their towns and villages. In the late 1770s, Abdel Kader Kane, the leader of the Futa Torro on the Senegal river, did not hesitate to enforce a no slave trade rule in his Muslim territory. Kane forbid slave caravans from passing

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