Final answer:
Equiano and millions of other Africans came to the New World as enslaved people due to the demand for labor in European colonies. The African slave trade was driven by the capture and enslavement of Africans by other Africans, who intended to sell them to Europeans for transportation across the Atlantic.
Step-by-step explanation:
Equiano, along with millions of other Africans, came to the New World as enslaved people due to the demand for labor in European colonies. Europeans needed workers to explore, clear land, build colonies, mine precious metals, and provide subsistence to settlers in the New World.
Initially, Europeans enslaved American Indians and relied on European indentured laborers, but as these sources proved insufficient, they turned to Africa.
The African slave trade was driven by the capture and enslavement of Africans by other Africans, who intended to sell them to Europeans for transportation across the Atlantic. Wars were launched against rival peoples for the purpose of taking captives, and Africans were not safe in their own homes.
Some Africans were tricked and sold to European slave traders by their own relatives. Around 16 million Africans were forcibly shipped to the Americas, with about 4 million dying during the journey.
It is important to note that African slavery in the New World differed fundamentally from past instances of slavery and other systems of labor in the same era. Unlike previous forms of slavery, African slavery in the New World was race-based and involved large-scale transportation of enslaved people across the Atlantic.