Throughout the centuries Europeans have had many different opinions regarding Africans. Many factors have changed those opinions including economic, religious, or political reasons. Different regions within Europe also had opinions that may have differed from other regions. Some respected Africans and saw them as another ally and source of trade. Others saw them as evil and as property. Between 1400 and 1600 there was a wide array of opinions of Africans and many of those opinions changed after the start of the slave trade. So many factors went into the opinions that Europeans had of Africans that it is hard to pinpoint any single reason that race and skin color became an important factor of how Africans were treated.
Prior to the start of the slave trade, Portugal had explored further down the Atlantic coast into Africa. They came into contact with many different African nations and created trade relations with them. The Portuguese realized that the areas north of Cape Verde were friendly nations and the areas south were more volatile.[i] The Portuguese did not want to create war and capture the Africans to use as slaves instead they wanted to create trade relations with the Africans. They saw Africans as a way to increase their influence in other lands and as a source of commerce. They respected the Africans as people and even saw them as an important ally.
The Portuguese would occasionally buy slaves to act as interpreters to take along with them on their voyages along the coast in order to help them create trade with other nations. They would also ask Africans to come along with them and at times, as a last resort, would kidnap Africans but these slaves and willing or unwilling participants were always returned to their homes. These “ambassadors” as they were called were treated very well. They were given new clothing and many gifts upon their arrival back home and if they were slaves they were given their manumission.[ii] This treatment by the Portuguese showed how they respected the Africans and wanted to remain allies just as they would other European nations.
After the start of the slave trade, opinions of Africans began to shift. They became not much more than property. Africans were still a very important part of Portuguese trade, but it became a trade of slaves instead of merchandise. Slaves were given as gifts to royalty to be used as domestic servants as well as for many other purposes.[iii] Africans had started to become seen as not much more than property and were no longer respected as they had been previously.
The Atlantic region of Europe including England and France had different viewpoints of Africans. Many of their first encounters of Africans were that of slaves through the Portuguese. The English did not have the desire as the Portuguese did to become involved in the slave trade initially. It was not as economically important for the English. Instead African slaves were seen as “exotic” creatures and many times were given as gifts such as pets to the aristocrats. There were even shops that would sell collars for slave the same as for dogs and other pets.[iv] English writers took advantage many times of the exoticness of Africans and wrote of how the more black an African’s skin the more beautiful they were considered to be.[v]
The more Africans were brought to England and other parts of Europe, the more they became lower class citizens. Not many Africans were free or emigrated from Africa by their own choice. Because of this Europeans saw them as able to be nothing more than slaves or domestic servants. The features that were seen as exotic before had become negative. The lack of diversity in England and other European nations made Africans more noticeable in the society. The African race was automatically seen as being inferior due to the color of their skin and physical features.
Slowly but surely Africans began appearing inferior to Europeans. Anyone with dark skin was seen as a lower class citizen and in many places was not wanted within the country. The Iberian and Atlantic regions had different contacts with the Africans initially, which created differing views of the African people. As time went on each region’s opinion began changing and created an appearance of inferiority among Africans. The slave trade had a lot of influence on how Africans were viewed by Europeans. Domestic servants were not uncommon in Europe by any means, but the simple fact that most of the Africans that were initially brought to Europe were slaves created the idea that they were unable to be anything more than just slaves. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries many changes occurred between Africans and Europeans that helped to create the race relations that were seen for many years to come.
[i] Ivana Elbl, “Cross-Cultural trade and Diplomacy: Portuguese Relations with West Africa, 1441-1521,” Journal of World History 3.2 (1992): 170.
[ii] Elbl, 171.
[iii] Walter Rodney, “African in Europe and the Americas,” The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol. 4 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008): 583.
[iv] Rodney, 584.
[v] Alden T. & Virginia Mason Vaughan, “Before Othello: Elizabethan Representations of Sub-Saharan Africans,” The William and Mary Quarterly, 54.1 (1997): 23.
