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Book chapter | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Sexual demography: the impact of the slave trade on family structure |
Author: | Thornton, J. |
Book title: | Women and slavery in Africa |
Year: | 1983 |
Pages: | 39-48 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Subsaharan Africa |
Subjects: | sex distribution slave trade women |
Abstract: | The major impact of the slave trade was not so much the reduction of the total number of people remaining in Africa as fundamental alterations in the ratio of working to dependent populations or of male to female labor. In this reexamination, the position of women is highlighted, since it is they who suffered the most from the trade in Africa. The alterations in the age and sex ratios affected women in Africa in two ways, both results of the age- and sex-specific nature of the demand for African slaves by the traders. First of all, since they retained their normal fertility, the burden of child care imposed on them was not lessened by the loss in population. Second, since there were 20% fewer males to perform work allocated to men during the slave trade era, work was left undone, had to be done by women, or compensated for by purchased items. Ref. |