Sociology Essay: Ghana, Slave Trade, and Societal Consequences

This sociology essay examines the profound and lasting impact of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade on Ghana. The essay explores the historical context, tracing the development of ethnic groups and the eventual involvement of Ghana in the slave trade. It analyzes the economic consequences, including depopulation, fractured familial relations, and the disruption of societal structures. The essay delves into the roles of European rivals, African chiefs, and Muslim merchants in the trade, as well as the reactions and opposition to slavery. It further discusses the impact of the slave trade on the development of Ghana, its underdevelopment, and its societal challenges. The essay concludes by emphasizing the devastating effect of the slave trade on Ghana and its lasting impact on the nation's financial system.

Running head: SOCIOLOGY
SOCIOLOGY
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Introduction
By the concluding phase of the 16th Century, majority of ethnic groupings representing
the contemporary the current Ghanaian populace had developed in their current locations.
Vossen found certain archaeological remnants found in the coastal region illustrated that the area
has been occupied since the early on Bronze Age i.e. ca. 4000 BC although chiefly cultures
based on fishing in the wide range of waterways which left instances. According to Barner et al.
Ghana eventually succumbed to attacks but its neighbours in the 11th century however had
significantly sustained its identity and recognition. As the studies of Vossen, in late 1950’s when
chiefs of the past British colony belonging to the Gold coast wanted a suitable name for the
lately developed self-governing state, the first black African homeland in order to acquire
autonomy from the colonial law they named the newly emerged nation after ancient
Ghana(Boddy-Evans). The following paper will analyse the way preference was immensely
symbolic as contemporary Ghana similar to its namesake had been equally famed because of its
economic affluence and business in gold. Additionally, the paper will focus on the extent to
which depopulation and fractured familial relations inherited in the slave trade affected Ghana.
Discussion
Studies of Vossen revealed that during the peak of the early European rivalry, slavery
was perceived as a form of social foundation in addition to the slave trade eventually surpassed
all other marketable actions carried out on the West African coastline. Austin, Gareth and
Broadberry at this juncture, claimed that in order to gain certainty, slave along with slave trading
had been previously deep-rooted in several African societies with women confined in local
warfare turned into slaves. Pruitt, through a generalized understanding stated that though slaves
in the African communities had been typically treated as subordinate or low-ranking members of

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the society with certain authorities and rights and several had been in due course absorbed into
families of their chiefs as full members. However, Pierce, Lamar and Snyder claimed that
considering conventional methods of agricultural production in Africa, the process of slave trade
in African had reflected divergences from the processes which had its significance in the
marketable agricultural estate environments of the New World.
Moreover, a different crucial facet of the affect of the trans-Atlantic slave traffic on
Africa had greatly created certain areas of concerns related to the responsibility and function of
African chiefs, Muslim merchants along with merchant princes in the trade. According to
Boddy-Evans, the volume of the slave trade existed in regions of West African emerged at a
rapid pace from its origin around 1500 to its high point during the eighteenth century. Austin,
Gareth and Broadberry estimated that an approximate 6.4 million slaves had been transported
from regions of West Africa to North America as well as South America, around 4.6 million of
that figure between 1701 and 1810. Significantly, the demographic force of the slave traffic on
West Africa had considerably observed to be more significant in comparison to the number
which had been essentially enslaved due to the significant number of Africans which perished
during slaving raids or during in captivation which awaited transhipment (Pruitt). According to
Pierce, Lamar and Snyder, all countries exhibiting greater degree of inclination in West Africa
got involved in the process of slave trade. Furthermore, linkages between the Europeans and the
local inhabitants typically encountered high level of tensions and suspect which resulted to the
frequent conflicts. Further to this, certain forms of illnesses had eventually caused high level of
losses among the Europeans who had been engaged in the process of slave trade however the
incomes received from the operation of slave trade successfully continued to magnetize those
individuals.

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Meanwhile, studies conducted by Ojo indicated that the intensification of anti-slavery
response among Europeans resulted to the slow development in opposition to vested African as
well as European interests which harvested profits and incomes from the slave interchange.
While, individual clergymen intended for the process of slave trade as early as the seventeenth
century, major proportion of the Christian denominations showed insignificant level of
inclination to the early efforts at abolition (Pierce, Lamar and Snyder). The process of
importation of slaves into the United States had been significantly outlawed during the early
1800’s when Britain utilized its naval authority and influence to prohibit the illegal business of
slavery by its citizens and further proficiently initiated programmes to prevent the global trade in
slaves. Such endeavours however had not been successfully accomplished until the 1860’s due to
the sustained demand for plantation labour in the New World. In the view of Boddy-Evans, as it
took Europe eliminated the trans-Atlantic slave traffic primarily as its efficiency had been
destabilized by the Industrial Revolution.
According to Vossen, the slave traffic in parts of Ghana had been perceived as no
significant trade which was conducted through deception, deception, acts of banditry and
kidnapping. The level of hostility which exemplified the trade further shed light on forms
uncertainty. Furthermore, the opportunity exhibited by the European slave dealers turn into a
chief, even though not only the motivation for a vast deal of communal violence between diverse
African communities as well as within any given community. Barner et al. claimed that it took
the structure more significantly related to raiding and kidnapping in comparison to the regular
conflict and that fact augmented the aspect of terror along with insecurity. Studies of Austin,
Gareth and Broadberry claimed that during the episode of the slave trade minimal rate of 13.5
million Africans had been illicitly transported from the coast of West Africa to the region of

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Western Hemisphere. However, of the 13.5 million, around 11,329,500 had been transferred to
the New World which elevated to the trans-shipment massacre of roughly 1, 682, 500 persons or
around 14.5% of the shipment.
Conclusion
`Hence to conclude, the Trans-Atlantic slave trade had left a significant mark on Ghana
in addition to the rest of the continent by treating the slaves like dirt. Such an unjust slave trade
left the nation in a critical situation as it caused chaos to the financial system resulting to the
under-population, aggression and racism and further left it to remain highly underdeveloped in
comparison to other nations across the world which had undergone high development and
progress in recent times.

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References
Austin, Gareth, and Stephen Broadberry. "Introduction: The renaissance of African economic
history." The Economic History Review 67.4 (2014): 893-906.
Barner, John R., David Okech, and Meghan A. Camp. "Socio-economic inequality, human
trafficking, and the global slave trade." Societies 4.2 (2014): 148-160.
Boddy-Evans, Alistair. "A Timeline Of African Countries' Independence." ThoughtCo. N.p.,
2017. Web. 18 Sept. 2017.
Ojo, Emmanuel Oladipo. "The Atlantic Slave Trade and Colonialism: Reasons for Africa’s
Underdevelopment?." European Scientific Journal, ESJ 11.17 (2015).
Pierce, Lamar, and Jason A. Snyder. "The historical slave trade and firm access to finance in
Africa." The Review of Financial Studies 31.1 (2017): 142-174.
Pruitt, Sarah. "What Part Of Africa Did Most Slaves Come From?." HISTORY. N.p., 2016. Web.
3 May 2016.
Vossen, Tessa, et al. "Consequences of the trans-Atlantic slave trade on medicinal plant
selection: plant use for cultural bound syndromes affecting children in Suriname and Western
Africa." PloS one 9.11 (2014): e112345.
Vossen, Tessa, et al. "Consequences of the trans-Atlantic slave trade on medicinal plant
selection: plant use for cultural bound syndromes affecting children in Suriname and Western
Africa." PloS one 9.11 (2014): e112345.