From what I understand Moors were classified separately from “Negros” and attempted to invade West African kingdoms, and assisted Europeans with the logistics of the Slave Trades. Not sure why people love caping for Moors.
I don't think that is necessarily historically accurate.
@Diasporan Royalty my be able to clarify the Moors role in West Africa, but from what I recall studying the Spanish and Portuguese wanted to get greater information on West Africa, but the Moors would not give it to them because the Moors maintained the trans-Saharan trade routes with the West Africans and the Moors wanted to remain the intermediaries or middlemen of the trade between the Europeans and the West Africans. At that time most of the major West African Kingdoms were inland, rather than near the ocean so the Moors and West African caravans were only way that goods and services traveled between Europe and West Africa.
At some point the Spanish and Portuguese devised a way around the Moors by sailing directly to West Africa (I think modern day Senegal) in order to deal directly with the West Africans. I am not sure about this part though, but I think it was the Sephardic Jews (Spanish Jews) that had settled in Senegal after being kicked out of Spain after the reconquista, that may have played a role in Spain and Portugal establishing trade networks in Senegal. The Spanish and Portuguese where then able to extend those networks further into West Africa, which led to the Mane Invasion that caused the Mandingos to leave Mali and invade the coastal lands to their West and South in order to develop a trade network with the Spanish and Portuguese who were on the coast. The Mandingos were attempting to replace the trade that they had lost with the Moors after the trans-Saharan trade routes had began to dry up.
Oddly enough the Portuguese and Spanish made direct contact at near the same time that Columbus stumbled his lost ass into the Americas, which of course was the tie to slavery and to later colonization. I didn't even realize until the last year or so how many Jews had settled in Senegal after being expelled from Spain until I learned of this book.
On a completely separate note the Jews intermarried with local people, which might explain why some Africans in Africa and in the diaspora have this strange mix of Spanish paternal DNA. There are lots of African Americans in African Ancestry DNA reveal videos that have Spanish paternal lines, even though it is not clear if their ancestors were ever enslaved by the Spanish. African Ancestry does not go past the initial stage to determine if the DNA is Jewish. My paternal line is African, but for some reason I have Sephardic Jewish DNA, even though my mother doesn't have it. Oddly enough I have the same amount of Senegal DNA, but my mother does not have any Senegal DNA either so it is clearly from my father's line.
