ABSTRACT
This chapter enlarges the reader's understanding of Africa in the era of the transatlantic slave system, draws attention to African experiences during that period, and, explores how Africans themselves interpreted the process of transatlantic slaving through their own ways of making sense of the world. It discusses the historical events that are usually referred as the "Atlantic slave trade" or "African slave trade." In Africa and in the Americas, those who were literate or became so under captivity left us a few autobiographical accounts of their experiences. The chapter surveys the experiences of enslaved Africans, bringing out patterns and overarching themes across wide geographical areas while providing specifics that make patterns and themes more tangible. A number of factors contributed to enslavement on the African side of the equation, including drought, famine, debt, warfare, raiding, and kidnapping or pawning.
