Types of Slave Trade During the European Colonial Period

Here is a detailed overview of the types of slave trade in Africa, in approximately 800 words:

The slave trade in Africa took many different forms over the centuries, with various systems of enslavement existing long before the arrival of European colonizers. While the transatlantic slave trade to the Americas is the most well-known, Africans were subjected to several other types of enslavement as well.

One of the most common forms was debt bondage, also known as peonage or bonded labor. This involved people being forced to work off a debt, often through agricultural labor, with the debt and forced labor passed down through generations. The interest rates were frequently exorbitant, making it nearly impossible for the debtor to ever fully repay the loan. This type of debt bondage, sometimes called "pawnship," was prevalent in many West and Central African societies [[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Africa).

Another major form was chattel slavery, where enslaved people were considered the complete property of their owner, with no rights of their own. Captives were often taken in conflicts between different African groups and then sold, sometimes to Arab or European slave traders. The children of enslaved people were also considered property and could be sold. This chattel slavery system became much more widespread and brutal with the rise of the transatlantic slave trade starting in the 16th century [[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Africa)[[2]](https://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/africanpassageslowcountryadapt/introductionatlanticworld/slaverybeforetrade).

Forced labor or contract enslavement was also common, where workers were lured to remote locations with promises of employment, only to be violently coerced into unpaid labor. This was extensively used in King Leopold's Congo Free State and on Portuguese plantations in places like Cape Verde and São Tomé [[3]](https://www.thoughtco.com/types-of-slavery-in-africa-44542).

State enslavement, where governments captured and forced their own citizens to work, often as laborers or soldiers, was practiced in some African societies. Religious enslavement also occurred, such as when young girls were given to local priests, effectively becoming sex slaves under the guise of religious atonement [[3]](https://www.thoughtco.com/types-of-slavery-in-africa-44542).

Domestic servitude, where women and children were isolated and forced to work as household servants, was another form of enslavement found in Africa. And while not exactly slavery, the system of serfdom in some African kingdoms, where tenant farmers were bound to the land and required to provide labor and services to their lord, bore similarities to European feudalism [[3]](https://www.thoughtco.com/types-of-slavery-in-africa-44542).

It's important to note that the nature and scale of slavery in pre-colonial Africa differed significantly from the chattel slavery that developed in the Americas. In many African societies, enslaved individuals were still part of a kinship system and had a better chance of gaining freedom within their lifetime. The racial component and permanent separation of families that characterized New World slavery was not as prevalent [[2]](https://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/africanpassageslowcountryadapt/introductionatlanticworld/slaverybeforetrade).

However, as the demand for enslaved labor grew with the transatlantic trade, even non-slaveholding African societies came under pressure to participate. The rise of plantation agriculture in the Americas led to a more extreme system of dehumanizing chattel slavery, where Africans were treated as commodities to be bought, sold, and worked to death [[2]](https://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/africanpassageslowcountryadapt/introductionatlanticworld/slaverybeforetrade).

While the transatlantic slave trade has received the most attention, the trans-Saharan slave trade to the Islamic world also had a major impact. Over the centuries, millions of Africans were taken from the continent's interior and sold in markets across North Africa and the Middle East. The effects of this trade, which continued into the 20th century, are still felt today [[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Africa).

In conclusion, the history of slavery in Africa is complex, with a wide range of systems of enslavement existing long before the arrival of Europeans. While the transatlantic trade to the Americas was the most brutal and devastating, Africans also endured debt bondage, chattel slavery, forced labor, state enslavement, and other forms of servitude. Understanding this nuanced history is crucial to fully grasping the legacy of slavery on the continent.