Africa-Europe relations: From mercantile slave trade, to Christian missions, to colonial rule

By Ifechukwu Ibeme

The transatlantic slave trade, initiated by Portuguese traders in the 1400s and peaking in the 1600s and 1700s, was driven by MERCANTILIST trade-posts and treaties, with African chiefs actively competing in slave raids to boost slave trade, but after slavery was later abolished through pressure from Church groups, the Abolition was implemented by COLONIALIST force. While some Africans initially embraced the slave trade for economic gain, resistance to the abolition and colonialism emerged later in the 1880s when it abolished the slave trade, curtailed African authority, and imposed taxes.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of the historical events:

Early Mercantilist Trade and the Rise of the Slave Trade:

• The Portuguese began trading with Africa in the 1400s, initially for goods like gold, ivory, and other resources.
• The transatlantic slave trade emerged as a significant part of this trade, with Europeans exchanging goods for enslaved Africans, who were then transported to the Americas.
• The peak of the slave trade occurred in the 1600s and 1700s, with millions of Africans forcibly raided and transported across the Atlantic.
• African chiefs actively participated in the slave trade, organizing raids to capture and sell their captives and victims. The Abolition of Slavery:
• The abolition of slavery in the 1800s was led by movements like the Church, with figures like William Wilberforce playing a key role.
• The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 in Britain freed enslaved Africans in British colonies.
• The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1865 abolished slavery in the United States. The Spread of Christianity and the Role of Freed Slaves:
• Christian missionaries, including freed African slaves from Sierra Leone like Ajayi Crowther, played a role in spreading Christianity to Africa.
• Christian Missions came in the 1840s Methodists and Anglicans in 1842, and Presbyterians in 1846.
• Christianity brought peace by discouraging intervillage slave raids, education/literacy, and economic opportunities to Africa through introduction of foreign cash crop agriculture.
• The goal of the Christian Missionaries was to bring both the Gospel of Spiritual Saving Truth to set souls free and the knowledge of Self Sustaining Trade for the converts. The Legacy of the Christian Missions:
• The Christian Missionaries who were freed slaves were the first to bring literacy to Africa by developing written Western-style orthographs for native languages.
• The freed slaves Missionaries from Siera Leone, Liberia and the Caribbean aimed at making the native Church to be self-preserving and self-propagating.
• The first hospitals or Health Institutions as well as first Educational institutions in the Gulf of Guinea Africa were all founded by Christian Missionaries.
• The Church Missionaries brought many crops with export value into local native agriculture.
• Many exportable cash crops in the markets of today’s Gulf of Guinea Africa were brought by the Church.
• The list of such cash crops farmed in native Church community cooperative farms include..
  Large-Tuber Yam: West Indies
  Tomato: West Indies, USA, South America
  Maize: USA, West Indies, India, & China
  Red-Stem Cassava: Brazil, South America, & the Amazons
  Long Plantain/Bananas: India, Cameroon, Germany
  Pepper and Pineapple: India
  Coconut: Honolulu
  Guava: Cameroon, thru’ the Germans
  Large Breed Sheep & Goat: Australia, Tasmania, Argentine, & New Zealand
  Agric Fowl: Rhode Island, & Asia Minor
  Rice: America, Japan, China, & Ceylon
  Cocoa, Avocado, Cocoyam: India & Ceylon
  Beans: Egypt, Sudan, & Americas. Etc, Etc.
• The Missionaries planted indigenous churches that were self-supporting (financially independent), self-governing (locally led), and self-propagating (able to grow and spread the faith independently).
• The Churches brought intervillage peace, individual piety, and regional prosperity. Resistance to Colonialism:
• Colonialism, which emerged in the late 19th century, differed from the earlier Mercantilist period.
• Colonial powers sought to control African territories, resources, and labor, leading to resistance from Africans.
• Colonialism abolished the slave trade, which led to economic disruption and resentment among Africans who had profited from the slave trade.
• Colonialism also imposed taxes and reduced the authority of African rulers, further fueling resistance. The Legacy of Colonialism:
• Colonialism had a lasting impact on Africa’s political, economic, and social structures.
• The legacy of colonialism continues to shape relations between Africa and former colonial powers.
• Persistent bitterness against Colonialism has recently led to relentless historical distortion of the Africa-Europe contact as if it was only and all about colonialism.
• AntiEuropean sentiments have led to historical misinformation against the Church, as if Christianity is synonymous with Europe! But the reality has been that Europe mostly revised or refused Christian principles from restraining its Gentile vileness violence and virulence, except in few aspects of their society.

Ven Ifechukwu Ibeme is an Anglican Clergy based in Maiduguri, Borno State.

Pix: Use any religious illustration.