Page "Atlantic slave trade" Paragraph 66

According to Dr. Kimani Nehusi, the presence of European slavers affected the way in which the legal code in African societies responded to offenders.

Crimes traditionally punishable by some other form of punishment became punishable by enslavement and sale to slave traders.

According to David Stannard's American Holocaust, 50 % of African deaths occurred in Africa as a result of wars between native kingdoms, which produced the majority of slaves.

This includes not only those who died in battles, but also those who died as a result of forced marches from inland areas to slave ports on the various coasts.

The practice of enslaving enemy combatants and their villages was widespread throughout Western and West Central Africa, although wars were rarely started to procure slaves.

The slave trade was largely a by-product of tribal and state warfare as a way of removing potential dissidents after victory or financing future wars.

However, some African groups proved particularly adept and brutal at the practice of enslaving such as Oyo, Benin, Igala, Kaabu, Asanteman, Dahomey, the Aro Confederacy and the Imbangala war bands.