IntroductionThis essay will attempt to describe the ways and consequences of the abolition of the slave trade in early 19th century West Africa. We now live in a world where slavery is not considered moral since it was abolished, yet cases of slavery still exist today but are hidden from the public eye so well that no one even knows they exist. Forcing someone to carry out various tasks such as cleaning without any form of payment against their will is considered a form of slavery and anyone found having slaves or holding someone against their will these days is punished and possibly sentenced to prison for a very long period of time We are in the 21st century and slavery is something that is not accepted by society. The West African Slave Trade Most of the West African slave trade was sparked by what is known as the transatlantic slave trade. Many books and articles have been written and published about the transatlantic slave trade because it is one of the most decisive moments in history and according to Behrendt and Rawley (2005) involved the transportation of slaves across the Atlantic Ocean during the 16th century until the 19th century. Slaves were sold from West Africa to Europeans and Americans who then transported them by ship to their lands to work on their farms, be servants, cut lumber, and construct buildings. The transatlantic slave trade allowed Africans to sell items to Europeans and Americans such as clothing and goods, however trade in people was simply in the equation as most village leaders of the time wanted to sell humans in exchange for weapons. Most of the people sold to the Western world were people considered to have a disruptive influence…middle of paper…considered evil by many missionaries who continued to voice their opinion on how wrong they thought human trafficking was. Despite the presence of missionaries and the signing of treaties, many in Europe and Africa believed that slavery was a profitable business and continued to trade illegally. It is thanks to the British who worked very hard to stop the slave trade by imposing harsher punishments on their European counterparts who participated in the illegal trade, as explained in the second part of this essay. When slavery was completely abolished, the world became a much better place, with many shipowners refusing to transport slaves and instead preferring to transport raw materials. The abolition of the slave trade also meant that Africa could stand on its own and therefore produce its own material and trade with Europeans and other countries to the east of the continent..