Were did west African slave traders get their slaves to sell to the Europeans?

West African slave traders primarily acquired slaves through warfare, raids, and the capture of individuals from rival communities. They also engaged in trading with local populations, who sometimes sold their own people or prisoners of war. These enslaved individuals were then transported to coastal trading posts, where European traders purchased them for shipment to the Americas. The transatlantic slave trade was a complex system that involved various local and regional dynamics in West Africa.