French west Africa(history)

As the French pursued their part in the Scramble for Africa in the 1880 s and 1890 s, they conquered large inland areas, and at first ruled them as either a part of the Senegal colony, or as independent entities. These conquered areas were usually governed by French Army officers, and dubbed "Military Territories." In the late 1890 s, the French government began to rein-in the territorial expansion of its "officers on the ground", and transferred all the territories west of Gabon to a single Governor based in Senegal, reporting directly to the Minister of Overseas Affairs. The first Governor General of Senegal was named in 1895 , and in 1904 , the territories he oversaw were formally named French West Africa (AOF). Gabon would later become the seat of its own federation French Equatorial Africa ( AEF), which was to border its western neighbor on the modern boundary between Niger and Chad .

international migration , [ 60 ] has researched the mortality rates among Africans during the voyages of the Atlantic slave trade. He found that mortality rates decreased over the history of the slave trade, primarily because the length of time necessary for the voyage was declining. " In the eighteenth century many slave voyages took at least 2½ months. In the nineteenth century, 2 months appears to have been the maximum length of the voyage, and many voyages were far shorter. Fewer slaves died in the Middle Passage over time mainly because the passage was shorter." [ 61 ]

Atlantic shipment

After being captured and held in the factories, slaves entered the infamous Middle Passage . Meltzer's research puts this phase of the slave trade's overall mortality at 12.5 %. [ 59 ] Around 2. 2 million Africans died during these voyages where they were packed into tight, unsanitary spaces on ships for months at a time. Measures were taken to stem the onboard mortality rate such as enforced "dancing" (as exercise) above deck and the practice of force-feeding enslaved people who tried to starve themselves. [ 48 ] The conditions on board also resulted in the spread of fatal diseases. Other fatalities were the result of suicides by jumping over board by slaves who could no longer endure the conditions. [ 48 ] The slave traders would try to fit anywhere from 350 to 600 slaves on one ship. Before the shipping of enslaved people was completely outlawed in 1853 , 15.3 million enslaved people had arrived in the Americas. Raymond L. Cohn, an economics professor whose research has focused on economic history and

Port factories

After being marched to the coast for sale, enslaved people waited in large forts called factories. The amount of time in factories varied, but Milton Meltzer 's Slavery: A World History states this process resulted in or around 4.5 % of deaths during the transatlantic slave trade. [ 59 ] In other words, over 820 ,000 people would have died in African ports such as Benguela , Elmina and Bonny reducing the number of those shipped to 17.5 million. [ 59 ]

In 1807 , the UK Parliament passed the Bill that abolished the trading of slaves. The King of Bonny (now in Nigeria ) was horrified at the conclusion of the practice: We think this trade must go on. That is the verdict of our oracle and the priests. They say that your country, however great, can never stop a trade ordained by God himself. [ 58 ]