Although Africa initially had limited contact with the Americas and Europe, interaction gradually grew with the demand for slave labor overseas and spread devastating illnesses amongst the natives. Economies of all three regions expanded as well from the integration of crops and importation of slaves from Africa. In the early 1500s, Africa did not play a large part in the global economy, but when Europeans began settling in the Americas, slave labor became more popular, pulling Africa into the trade between the three regions. The European migrants also instigated epidemics in newly discovered civilizations as immunity had not yet been established. Also, the established system of communication allowed for the regions to experience various crops, opening a new method of economic flourish. …show more content…
Labor wasn’t yet needed while Europeans were newly settling in the Americas. In Brazil, the Portuguese settlers could not find laborers as easily because the people of Brazil were opposed to the settlers’ attempt to use them. As a result, they turned to the labor source of African slaves; large scale reliance on African labor began in the 1580s. With the new need for slaves, there was a heavy toll on slave communities as the labor demands of cane cultivation and sugar increased. In the eighteenth century, the slave trade heavily flourished with almost a hundred thousand slaves being sent to settlers in Americas. African populations severely plummeted, and tribes settled near the most prominent ports were especially affected and susceptible to harm. Also, sex ratios became distorted when Europeans settled as there was an increase in young men since their physical strengths were desired. As the slaves’ ability to reproduce was hampered, owners were forced to buy more, so in the late 1700s, the population in several African countries consisted largely of