Introduction Like in other continents, slavery forms a major component of the African history. Encompassed with a myriad of intertwined factors, slavery in Africa was viewed from different perspectives. With several decades having passed since the abolition of slavery in most parts of the world, historians carry the historic memories of slavery in Africa. Ranging from slave trade to child slavery, Africa witnessed countless atrocities, which were mainly perpetuated by powerful countries from Europe and among African communities. In understanding slavery in Africa, it is important to consider its origin and its greatest impact on the continent. This research paper analyses slavery in Africa, detailing its causes, dimensions and abolition among other major aspects of the slavery. Background Europe started exploring ways of establishing relationships with Africa through trade between 800 and 1500 AD. It was during this time that Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese and English traders sailed to access many countries in Africa to find market for their products which they bought from Europe and Asia. In their initial efforts, Europeans were interested in the trading of gold, ivory tusks, feathers and other metals that were considered valuable (Claude 23). During this commercial interaction, many European countries discovered that African leaders were willing to exchange some of their people as slaves for other supplies. Several trade routes were also established by colonies in the Atlantic to facilitate trade between several points. According to historic revelation, 1535 AD was the year when the first group of people left Africa for Americas in exchange for several business commodities (Manzo 394). In exchange for slaves, European countries supplied ammunition, riffles and other goods to African kings. After an agreement was reached between Europeans and African leaders, slaves were packed in huge sailing boats and taken to different American colonies and to the Caribbean Island. While in these Islands, the slaves were traded for molasses, tobacco, sugar and cotton before they exchanged what they received back for guns from Europe (Claude 21). This was the origin of what was later to be known as the Triangle Trade Route which contributed to the sale of at least ten million people from Africa. This practice continued and spread around Africa and other parts of the world before several countries joined efforts in illegalizing slave trade. For the case of the United States, the country had to engage in the famous Cold War until 1865 AD when the trade was officially illegalized. It is for this reason that there are men and women in South and North America of African descent (Miers and Kopytoff 11). Although there has been no consensus on the actual factors that led to the rise of slavery in Africa, many scholars concur that the need for agricultural labor was a major reason that contributed to the rise and escalation of slave trade in Africa. As it shall be noted later, other people have postulated the role of commerce and politics as key players in African slavery. To the contrary, some anthropologists have argued that there were no sufficient reasons to support African slavery, having in mind that most people depended on gathering and hunting as a major source of