Economic Incentives: The primary motivation behind the transatlantic slave trade was economic gain for European slave traders and plantation owners in the Americas. The profits from buying, selling, and exploiting enslaved Africans were immense.
Demand for Labor: European colonizers depended heavily on enslaved labor to cultivate cash crops like tobacco, cotton, and sugar in their New World colonies. As the demand for these products grew in Europe, the need for more enslaved workers increased, leading to the expansion of the transatlantic slave trade.
Racism and Dehumanization: The transatlantic slave trade was rooted in racist ideologies that justified the enslavement and exploitation of African peoples. Africans were dehumanized and seen as inferior, making it easier for Europeans to rationalize their involvement in the slave trade.
Slave Trade Infrastructure: The success of the transatlantic slave trade relied on the establishment of an infrastructure involving trading companies, slave ships, ports, and forts along the coast of West Africa. These structures enabled the capture and transportation of enslaved Africans to the Americas.
International Agreements: European nations signed treaties and agreements that regulated and legitimized the transatlantic slave trade. These included the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) and the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), which divided the Americas between Spain and Portugal and awarded slave-trading privileges to various European nations.