Slavery in Africa

Throughout history, slavery was common in Africa. Systems of servitude and slavery were once commonplace in parts of Africa, just like it was in many other parts of the ancient and medieval world. When the big slave trade as the trans-Saharan slave trade, Red Sea slave trade, Indian Ocean slave trade, and Atlantic slave trade (starting in the 1500s) began, many existing local African slave systems began providing people to be sold as slaves in slave markets outside Africa. Even though it is against the law, slavery in contemporary Africa still exists in some parts of Africa today.

According to literature African slavery is in two groups, slaves sold within Africa and those sold outside Africa. Historically slavery in Africa happened in different ways: debt slavery, were captured in war, served in the military, slavery for prostitution, and where slaves were criminals were all various forms of slavery that happened in different parts of Africa. Slavery in homes and royal court purposes was very common across Africa. Plantation slavery also happened, mainly on the eastern coast of Africa and in parts of West Africa. This kind of slavery on plantations within Africa became more important in the 1800s, because the Atlantic slave trade was ended. Many African countries that depended on selling slaves internationally then changed their economies to other normal businesses that still used slave labor.

## Types

Many types of slavery and servitude (forced labor) have existed throughout African history, and were formed by African traditions of slavery by the Roman institution of slavery (and the later Christian views on slavery), Islamic institutions of slavery through the Muslim slave trade, and resulting to the Atlantic slave trade.

Slavery was a part of how African societies made money for many centuries, although how much it was used varied. Ibn Battuta, who visited the old kingdom of Mali in the mid-1300s, said that the local people competed to see who had the most slaves and servants, and he himself was given a slave boy as a "welcome gift." The relationships involving slaves were often complicated, where people held as slaves had some rights and freedom and there were limits on how their masters could sell or treat them in sub-Saharan Africa. Many communities had different levels or ranks for different types of slaves: for example, they treated those who were born into slavery differently from those who were captured during war.

The types of slavery in Africa were strongly linked to kinship (family) structures. In many African groups, where land could not be owned, enslaving people was a way for someone to get more power and grow their connections. This meant slaves became a lasting part of their owner's family line, and the children of slaves could become closely tied to the bigger family connections. Children born to slaves within these families could become part of the owner's family group and even rise to important positions in society, sometimes even becoming a chief. However, a negative mark often stayed with them, and there could be very clear divisions between slaves who were part of a family group and those truly related to the master.

## Practices by region

For a long time, many African societies, like many others globally, practiced slavery and forced labor, which were common for a very long period of time. However, Ugo Kwokeji believes that what Europeans wrote about African slavery from the 1600s onward might be wrong. He thinks they may have misunderstood the various forms of service in Africa, confusing them with the transatlantic slave trade's concept of buying and selling of people as property.

We primarily find the proof of slavery in Africa in the large, organized kingdoms, especially those located near the coast. There is much less evidence of widespread slavery in societies without a government or that didn't have a central government. Generally, slave trading was not the main focus of trade; other goods were more important. However, there is proof of a trans-Saharan slave trade route that existed, starting as far back as Roman times and continued after the Roman Empire fell. Interestingly, it seems that strong family ties and the rights given to slaves (unless they were captured in war) likely limited the extent of slave trading before the larger trans-Saharan, Indian Ocean and the Atlantic slave trading began.