For a week now I have continued to think about the discussion that we had in history class about West Africa and Slavery. I have learned so much in one week than I can remember the 4 years of high school. I think what caught my attention the most was the trading posts along West Africa and the Canary Islands. They were first used to trade gold, ivory, spices, and other goods. When the Europeans and the tribal leaders figured out that human slavery was more profitable the posts became a means to trade people and all those goods. Here at a trade post slaves would be tortured, put into dungeons. Then iron shackles were put on their wrists and ankles. One of the posts is El Mina which is in Ghana. Another place is Goree Island. At both of the locations which are still there today to visit is an area called 'The Door of No Return". This was the last stop for captives before they were stripped, branded, marched to a slave ship and never return to Africa.
Something that surprised me was the number of slaves that were recorded. 10-12 million. With approximately an additional 1-2 million perishing before they reached their destination. Also, I always assumed that the US received a majority of the slaves, when in fact, the US only received approx. 500,000.
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