American_Suffrage_in_the_Age_of_Exploration

African Suffrage in the Age of Exploration What if you were torn away from your family, and taken to places you had never seen, or heard of' That is what was done to the Africans over a course of many years, but through all the hardship, they still made it to this day. Comparing them to the Native Americans I would have to say that overall the Africans really suffered the most from the Age of Exploration more than anyone else. Unlike the suffering of the Taino, which although was extremely brutal, the Africans suffered through the slave trade more than 400 years. Slavery in Africa first started in 1441 when Prince Henry brought back 12 men and 12 women from Africa (Ships of Slaves, March 4, 2011). This really set off the African slave trade. Explorers from all over Europe started going to Africa kidnapping the Africans to have them work with no pay, or benefits. When transporting the Africans, there would be hundreds stuffed on the lower decks of the ship for months, sitting in their own feces, barely having anything to eat, they suffered through unbearable conditions. The Europeans also spread many diseases to the Africans who had never been exposed to them, killing many on the ships before they even reached land (Ships of Slaves, March 4, 2011). This continued to happen to the Africans from 1441- 1888, when the last ship of slaves were transported. Compared to Taino whose 95% of its population was decreased by small pox (500 Nations, February 22, 2011), you can see that the Africans really suffered more, which lasted for hundreds of years. The Age of Exploration also really affected the once thriving African empires. Africa had once had strong empires like the Ghana, Mali, and Songhai. These empires once ruled Africa. They first started trading with the Europeans since they have a vast abundance of ivory, salt and most importantly gold. Those empires were torn apart due to slavery. Since the slave trade became such a large factor in that era, many Africans began to turn on each other, capturing their own kind, trading them to the Europeans, but what they didn’t know is that they weren’t the ones who benefited from it, it was the Europeans (Ships of Slaves, March 4, 2011). These empires had complex governments, institutions, and ways of life, to be brought down by the slave trade. Africa turned against itself, and eventually brought itself down as the Europeans stripped it of its natural resources, leaving it almost worthless in gold, salt, and ivory, the only thing they wanted more was its people (lecture, Medieval Africa, March 3, 2011). This shows us how the Europeans affected more than Africa’s natural resources, but everything they worked for. The Age of Exploration is over, but it still left its trace with the Africans. Even though slavery has ended, Africans are still discriminated to this day, many years later. Slavery led to a lot of racism which is still common. The slavery from Age of Exploration ended but it left behind a lot of discrimination. It broke up Africa in many ways like its broken social structure, broke up families, way of living, religion and more (Transatlantic Economy). I’m sure many Africans to this day don’t know where their ancestors came from because of slavery. It would be hard to ever completely restore old African culture, because the slaves had just about no option but to do what was told. To this day Africans still suffer from the Age of Exploration. In conclusion we can see that Africans really did suffer the most from the Age of Exploration compared to anyone else. With the loss of over 45 million people we can see the great impact it had on Africa that became depopulated, stripped of its resources, and brought down (Transatlantic Economy lecture). But the most positive thing about this is that the Africans survived to this day, and it’s amazing that they were able to make it, which shaped the World in many ways. Though many people suffered through the Age of Exploration it made us to what we are today, but sadly the Africans suffered the most through the process of it.