Why were west africans slaves were used in such large numbers?

Answer 1

the west africans were colored people and they were hard workers. They were choosen as slaves because they were well expirence, and they had skills to do the work,they were used to the tropical heat.The African was captured in large amounts, after a few days later they started to die from overwork and old world diseases and some was sold
because they were geographically closer to the U.S.A. etc, otherwise the slave ships would have to navigate around the cape of good hope (South Africa) to reach the East coast of Africa. Navigating around the Cape of good hope was not a good idea back then.
West Africa was closer to the slave owners so it was more convinient.
Africans were chosen to be slaves because they had different skin color than white people, so black people were treated differently.
The majtority of the trade routes went past west Africa rather than East Africa. that and people in the east (Asia and India) didnt need slaves they had a population which were as good as. it was westerners like English, American, and so on who needed slaves.

Answer 2

Slavery as practiced in what is modern Ethiopia and Eritrea was essentially domestic. Slaves thus served in the houses of their masters or mistresses, and were not employed to any significant extent for productive purpose. Slaves were thus regarded as second-class members of their owners' family,[8] and were fed, clothed and protected. Women were taken as sex slaves. They generally roamed around freely and conducted business as free people. They had complete freedom of religion and culture.[9] The first attempt to abolish slavery in Ethiopia was made by Emperor Tewodros II (r. 1855-1868)[10], although the slave trade was not abolished completely until 1923 with Ethiopia's ascension to the League of Nations.[11] Anti-Slavery Society estimated there were 2,000,000 slaves in the early 1930s out of an estimated population of between 8 and 16 million.[12] Slavery continued in Ethiopia until the Italian invasion in October 1935, when the institution was abolished by order of the Italian occupying forces.[13] In response to pressure by Western Allies of World War II, Ethiopia officially abolished slavery and involuntary servitude after having regained its independence in 1942.[14][15] On August 26, 1942 Haile Selassie issued a proclamation outlawing slavery.[