There was strong trade on a fairly level field with the western coast of Africa by the mid fifteenth century. The time honored tradition of raiding and trading had to be abandoned by Europeans and replaced by peaceful regulated trading because of the European’s inability to dominate the costal waterways with force. This turned out to not be a great hindrance due to the well established preexisting system of commerce within the continent. Europeans could tap into this system without the added cost of warfare. Africans were able to force Europeans into this relatively fair trading with their very impressive naval prowess. Although, Africans were rarely able to completely overtake a large high walled sea going vessel with their short sided low slung boats, but they could keep them from docking, trading, or raiding. By doing this, Africans could enforce customs and other duties. King Afonso I of the Kongo actually seized a French ship and its crew for trading illegally on his coast in 1525 (Thornton 38, 39). Africans’ ability to protect their coast from raiding forced Europe to look at them more as equals and treat them as such for an extended period of time.

ere not decimated by the introduction of European diseases the way the virgin Aztecs were almost wiped out by the introduction of European and African diseases. These mass epidemics in the New World made out right conquest much easier. As a matter of fact, the malaria belt in Africa prevented any large European communities within Africa until a means of controlling malarial outbreaks was discovered several centuries after European contact. Effective military resistance by coastal states provided a marked difference between the experiences of the two groups of people. A shift in European views toward exploration also played a large roll. The combination of these factors resulted in much different approaches by Europeans to the Aztecs than Africans. Africans had a much more advantageous position than the Aztecs when it came to their dealings with Europeans, but both groups ended up in the same position, as subordinates to the Europeans.

Disease could be the biggest factor in the difference between the ways the two groups were treated. The Africans were

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