How was the East African slave trade in 1600s different from Atlantic 1700s?

The East African slave trade in the 1600s was primarily driven by the demand for slaves in the Middle East and Asia. The Portuguese, who had established a presence in East Africa in the 1500s, played a significant role in the slave trade, capturing and transporting slaves from the region to markets in the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia. The slaves were often used for labor in agriculture, domestic service, and military purposes. The East African slave trade also involved the participation of local African rulers, who would raid neighboring territories and sell captives as slaves to European and Arab slave traders.

In contrast, the Atlantic slave trade in the 1700s was primarily driven by the demand for slaves in the Americas, particularly in the British, French, Spanish, and Portuguese colonies in the Caribbean and South America. The increased demand for labor on sugar, tobacco, and cotton plantations in the Americas led to a massive increase in the transatlantic slave trade, with millions of enslaved Africans being transported from West Africa to the Americas. The Atlantic slave trade was characterized by the use of large slave ships, which transported thousands of slaves in horrific conditions, resulting in high mortality rates during the Middle Passage.

While both the East African slave trade and the Atlantic slave trade were driven by economic motives and involved the exploitation and dehumanization of African people, they differed in terms of their geographical scope, markets, and the scale of the trade. The East African slave trade was more regional and focused on markets in the Middle East and Asia, while the Atlantic slave trade was transcontinental and had a global impact, with its consequences still being felt today.