My research has resulted in theoretical reasons for the usage of the term "nigger", and I have failed to uncover any evidence as to how this nasty little epithet evolved into the usage and connotation it had and has to this day.
When the African slave-trade was in full-swing , my belief is that a good percentage of black slaves were captured and sold in Nigeria. If the ship's captain could read, he would probably not be able to pronounce "Nigeria" or "Nigerian" properly nor would he care. Since a four syllable word is difficult to pronounce anyway for the education level of seamen in the slave-trade of that era, I believe the term was shortened from nigerian to nigger which was easier for them to say.
Best Answer
Niger is Latin for 'black'. That's the source of all the trouble. Nigger itself (with the Latin spelling) is recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary as being first used in 1574 'by whites or other non-blacks as a relatively neutral (or occasionally positive) term, with no specifically hostile intent'.