beginnings of European Control in Africa
The beginnings of European control. During the 1400s, the Portuguese began to explore the west coast of Africa. ... Soon after the Portuguese arrived in western Africa, they began to ship black Africans to Europe as slaves. In 1497 and 1498, Vasco da Gama led a Portuguese expedition that sailed around the Cape of Good Hope, along the east coast of Africa, and on to India. The Portuguese won control of the city-states of eastern Africa during the 1500s. ... They also established Cape Town at the southern tip of Africa in 1652. Africa had shipped slaves to Asia and Europe long before the Portuguese arrived. But the establishment of European plantations in North and South America during the 1500s led to a much greater demand for slaves. By the 1800s, Europeans had brought as many as 10 million slaves from western Africa to the Americas. ... European traders introduced cassava and corn into Africa. ... In 1808, the United States began prohibiting the import of slaves from Africa.