Between 1400 and 1600, the image of Africans in Europe underwent a radical change. The image of Africans in the Iberian Peninsula and in Atlantic Europe differed greatly due to the degree of economic interest and mechanisms of social development.
In the Mediterranean, African slavery was borne out of an economic interest. Between 1445 and 1500, the exploration of the West African coast allowed the Portuguese to develop and dominate the largest slave trade market in Europe. [1] Originally, African slavery served the purposes of manual labor. Agricultural slavery was hardly a new concept due to the system of feudalism that prevailed in Europe during the Middle Ages and religious wars with the Moors provided the foundation for slavery in the peninsula. Africans were introduced into a society that was both capitalist and racially diverse. These two factors manifested their own contradictions and generated a gradual reformation of social perceptions that moved toward a more inclusive approach of Africans into society. This phenomenon did not occur as describe in the article by Fracchia that suggests a movement from “visibility” to “invisibility”.[2] Africans, and those of Africans descent, did not entirely disappear or become invisible within Spanish society. While a sort of cultural invisibility can be achieved through the adoption of customs and traditions, the disappearance of Africans is not solely generated by cultural assimilation. The significant amount of Africans in the Iberian peninsula does not allow for a complete transformation of an entire population, so much so that they would no longer be “visible”. The social climate instead reflected an inclusion of Africans into society. Cultural assimilation, mainly by religious conversion, did not achieve “invisibility” as much as it allowed Africans and other minority groups to move up and down the social ladder. With this inclusive approach to race relations, Africans were more easily able to interact and operate in society. In turn, this allowed the flexibility of the social order. While minorities were still racially distinguishable and thus subject to being categorized in lower social classes, the image of Africans in the Mediterranean were more malleable than that of Africans who resided in Atlantic Europe.
In Atlantic Europe, Africans experienced a more frigid and binding condition in terms of social hierarchy. Rodney defines the origin of African slavery in Europe as domestic servitude or as a show of power and wealth among the aristocracy. [3]During the fifteenth and sixteenth century, the English arguably had few economic incentives to engage in African slave trade. Thus, Africans in northern Europe held an “exotic” image, not necessarily as an economic profit but as a social commodity. The distinction between who and what was “European” and who and what was “African” heavily influenced the perception and consciousness of race relations in England and France. Although the area, particularly in London, housed an African community, the lack of a significant amount of racial diversity served only to perpetuate this image of Africans as something foreign. The division between the races ultimately led to a strict social hierarchy in which Africans were placed and remained in the lowest class. Whether one be classified as a slave, domestic servant, or free, to be “black” was to accept that one was inherently and unconditionally bound to a lower social class. However, in the late sixteenth century, the English began to recognize the value of their African inhabitants as the colonial contest with the Spanish finally manifested an economic and political gain. “Africans in early modern Atlantic world could easily be viewed as pawns in the ongoing contests among the various European Powers”.[4] The growing importance and exploitation of Africans in Atlantic Europe did not change their image, but rather made their significance recognizable.
Africans had been present in Europe since the thirteenth century, however the period between 1400 and 1600 produced an undeniable existence within the continent. In both the Iberian Peninsula and Atlantic Europe, the image of Africans was initially defined along the lines of race and ethnicity. Though both areas of Europe experienced a dramatic change in the ways in which they viewed and received Africans, the Iberian Peninsula more easily adapted to the influx of an African population and the creation of African communities by generating mechanisms of cultural assimilation.
[1] Walter Rodney, “Africa in Europe and the Americas,” in The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol. 4 (Cambridge Histories Online, Cambridge University Press, 2008), 579.
[2] Carmen Fracchia, "(Lack of) Visual Represenation of Black Slaves in Spanish Golden Age Painting," in Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies, Vol. 10 (Carfax Publishing, June 2004), 23.
[3] Rodney, 583.
[4]Michael Guasco, "Free from the tyrannous Spanyard? Englishmen and Africans in Spain's Atlantic World," in Slavery and Abolition, Vol. 29 (Routledge, March 2008), 13.
Bibliography
Fracchia, Carmen "(Lack of) Visual Represenation of Black Slaves in Spanish Golden Age Painting," in Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies, Vol. 10 (Carfax Publishing, June 2004), 23.
Guasco, Michael "Free from the tyrannous Spanyard? Englishmen and Africans in Spain's Atlantic World," in Slavery and Abolition, Vol. 29 (Routledge, March 2008), 13.
I really like how you discussed that slavery was not a new concept in Europe. I think this is a very important point and it shows that it was not necessarily because Africans were slaves that the European view of them changed. I also liked your point about the English seeing Africans as exotic and not a commodity used for economic purposes. You used good examples to support your argument. Nice job.
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