Africa

The Corporate Slave Trade

Initially, these companies were not strictly-speaking exploitive, as they tapped into already existing networks for procuring and selling slaves, but their involvement increased the intensity of the trade and contributed to profound political changes. Along the west coast of Africa, leaders used the profits and prestige of the Atlantic slave trade to consolidate their power over tribe members and to extend that power over others. The trade created and strengthened an economic and political elite who often leveraged their positions for personal gain, a trend that would continue in the 20th century.

The large profits from the slave trade also encouraged economic recklessness back in Europe. In the 18th century, two spectacular stock market bubbles, the Mississippi Scheme in France and the South Seas Scandal in England, stemmed from the creation of joint-stock companies whose profits were to come from the slave trade. John Law's Mississippi Company failed spectacularly, leaving France with massive debt, a general mistrust of financial instruments, and lingering concerns about the government's ability to manage its finances. The fallout from the scandals had little effect back in Africa because competition for lucrative and exclusive slave-trading contracts was intense, and when one player dropped out or proved unsatisfactory, there were always others waiting in the wings.

Slavery was outlawed by nearly every Western country by the 19th century and many expected that Africa would follow suit. When this proved not to be the case, imperial powers cited the continuation of slavery as a moral pretext for greater control by paternalistic, economically advanced countries. In the late 19th century, nearly all of Africa was carved up by European powers into spheres of colonial rule. The cooperation of African leaders was assured through the financial and political incentives, often thinly disguised bribery. The primary purpose of these colonies, [Page 15]however, was economic. Europeans were looking for new markets for their own manufactured goods and new sources of key raw materials, such as copper or oil.

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