Final answer:
The major effect of the transatlantic slave trade was the destabilization of local structures in Africa, leading to the rise of states dependent on slavery and significant demographic impacts. It resulted in warfare, social disruption, and long-standing cultural and economic scars.
Step-by-step explanation:
A major effect of the transatlantic slave trade was that it destabilized local, political, economic, and family structures in Africa. As European nations became entrenched in the slave trade, African societies were militarized, and states such as Whydah and Dahomey waged wars to capture and sell slaves, significantly disrupting local communities.
The relentless demand for enslaved individuals led to a near-constant state of warfare, contributing to the formation of new states that depended on the slave trade, which had a profound impact on the continent of Africa.
The slave trade also had a significant demographic impact, contributing to a population boom in the Americas with the introduction of crops like corn and manioc, while simultaneously reducing Africa's population by over 26 million due to slavery. Despite this, the new African states enriched themselves by trading with Europeans, exchanging captives for goods and altering societal norms.
Long-term effects included deep social and cultural scars that remained even after the trade ended, preparing the region for European imperial conquest in the late nineteenth century and leaving unanswered questions about the lost potential for social and cultural progress had those millions of individuals remained in Africa.