Transcript The Atlantic Slave Trade

The Atlantic Slave Trade
Chapter 4 Section 3
Crash Course
► Crash
Course: Atlantic Slave Trade
THE TRANS ATLANTIC
SLAVE TRADE
GROWTH OF ABOLITION
MOVEMENT, 18TH CENTURY.
THE STONE AGE
1807 – BRITAIN DECLARES
SLAVE TRADE ILLEGAL
1808 – USA DECLARES
SLAVE TRADE ILLEGAL
Hunter-gatherer societies
did not have enough food to
feed extra mouths, so did
not have slaves.
ANCIENT CIVILISATIONS
FORCEDGIRLS
SLAVE
GLADIATORS
LABOUR
1833 – SLAVERY DECLARED ILLEGAL
ACROSS THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
1861-65 – AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
All Ancient civilisations
- whether in Europe, the
Middle East, Asia or the
Americas - made use of
slavery..
Western slavery goes
back 10,000 years to
Mesopatamia (present
day Iraq).
The Portuguese started the
Atlantic slave trade, soon to be
joined by the Spanish.
Christopher Columbus’ conquest
of the Caribbean virtually wiped
out the native Indians. They were
to be replaced by slaves brought
from Africa.
MEDIEVAL EUROPE
Slavery often
took place in
the name of
religion –
Christians,
Muslims and
Jews all took
part.
Causes of African slavery
► Slavery
already
existed in Africa 
different than
slavery in Americas
• Slavery similar to serfdom  slavery ended after certain # of
years in servitude
• Slaves could marry, own property, and even own slaves
• Slavery not hereditary
• Slavery lacked racism
Justifying Slavery
► Early
Civilizations – accident or bad luck
► Aristotle – notion of the “natural slave”
► Christianity/Islam – Holy books mention
slavery
C. Demand for Africans  increased with
the colonization of the Americas
► 1. Europeans saw
advantages of using
Africans in the Americas
 Exposure & immunity to
European diseases
 Experience in farming
 Less likely to escape 
did not know new land
 Skin color made easier
to identify & catch
escapees
Big Business in the Slave Trade
► By
the time it ended in
1870, nearly 10-12
million Africans were
enslaved
► Spain took the lead in
importing Africans
1. Slaves worked on
plantations, gold &
silver mines
► Portuguese
surpassed Spanish in slave trade
 Brazil dominated sugar market  increased
demand for cheap labor
 More than 40% of Africans in slave trade went
to Brazil in 17th c.
England became leading carrier of
enslaved Africans
► Transported
nearly 1.7 million Africans to their
colonies in West Indies (Caribbean)
► 1672 – King of England chartered the Royal African
Company
► 1698 – English Parliament ruled that any British
subject could own slaves
African cooperation & resistance
► African
rulers & merchants
played willing role in African
slave trade  captured
Africans to be enslaved
 European traders waited in
ports on coast of Africa
 African slaves were traded
with Europeans in
exchange for gold, guns,
etc.
Some African rulers voiced their
opposition
1. Lured by profits, rulers continued to
participate
2. Merchants found new trade routes to avoid
oppositional rulers
The Journey
► The
Triangular Trade – transatlantic trading
network
► 1.
Europeans transported manufactured goods to
the west coast of Africa
► 2. Goods exchanged for captured Africans
► 3. Africans brought across Atlantic & sold in West
Indies
► 4. Merchants brought sugar, coffee, & tobacco from
West Indies back to Europe
4
1
3
2
The Middle Passage  the voyage that
brought captured Africans to New World
►Africans
packed into
dark holds of large ships
►Africans endured
whippings & beatings
from merchants
►Diseases swept through
vessel  millions died
►Many
Africans committed suicide by
drowning
►Nearly 20% of Africans aboard each
ship perished during trip (2 million
total)
Middle Passage Continued
► Journey
lasted 6-8 weeks.
► Due to high mortality rate, cargo was insured
(reimbursed for drowning accidents but not for
deaths from disease of sickness)
► Common to dump your cargo for sickness or food
shortages.
► Slave mutinies on board ships were common (1
out of every 10 voyages across the Atlantic
experience a revolt).
► Covert resistance (attempted suicide, jumped
overboard, refusal to eat).
Plan of a Slave Ship
Slavery in the Americas
► Harsh
life upon arrival in
Americas
 Sold to highest bidder 
worked in mines, fields, or as
domestic servants
 Little food, lived in small huts
 Worked long days & suffered
beatings
 Lifelong & hereditary condition
Resistance & rebellion
►Africans
developed way of life based on
their cultural heritage
 Musical traditions & stories of ancestors
►Resisted
by making
themselves less
productive  broke
tools, moved slowly
►Thousands ran away
►Open revolts 
numerous uprisings
Effects of the Slave Trade
• 400 years of Atlantic slave trade
• Devastated West African societies
Effect: Human Cost
Effect on Africa
• Estimates of 15 to 20 million
Africans shipped to Americas
against their will
• Effects profound in Africa
• Millions more sent to Europe, Asia,
Middle East
• Divided Africans one from
another—some rulers waged wars
to gain captives
• Human cost enormous
– Countless died in transit
– Millions deprived of freedom
– Descendants doomed to lives
of forced servitude
• Slave raiders captured strongest
young—future leaders of societies
• Forced labor of millions of
Africans did not enrich Africa
Effects in the Americas
► Slaves
contributed greatly to economic &
cultural development of Americas
 Survival of colonies depended on their labor
 Africans brought their expertise in agriculture
Effect: Spread of
Culture
• As result of slave trade,
people of African descent
spread throughout
Americas, Western Europe
• Spread called the African
Diaspora
• Eventually led to spread of
African culture—music,
art, religion, food—
throughout the Western
World
Olaudah Equiano
- Kidnapped & sold into
slavery as a child
- Eventually earned price of
his freedom by careful
trading & saving
- Later became involved in
movement to abolish the
slave trade
- His narrative describes the
horrific Middle Passage &
experiences of slaves
Published “The Interesting
Narrative on the Life of
Olaudah Equiano” in 1789
Chapter 4 Section 4
The Age of European Imperialism
► Crash
Course: European Imperialism
► What is Imperialism? (From Unit 1)
► Prior to Imperialism Europeans had
established trading posts along the coasts,
but did not venture into the interior of
Africa.
► By the beginning of WWI in 1914, European
nations had claimed all African countries
except Liberia and Ethiopia
Why did European countries want
to take over African territory?
► Reason
1: Economic advanatage
 Europe had gone through Industrialization, and
needed raw materials for their factories. Africa
had those materials
 Possible buyers for European goods.
Reason 2: Politics
► Nationalism
► The
bigger the empire, the more power you
had
► Get land before your enemy does
Reason 3: Religion
► Christians
viewed it as an opportunity to
spread the religion
► Some missionaries built schools, defended
slaves, etc.
How did the Europeans take over
so quickly?
► Two
advances:
► New medicines allowed Europeans to
survive in Africa (malaria and yellow fever
vaccines)
► Maxim Gun (machine gun)
Why didn’t the Africans fight
back?
► They
did, with little success.
► European militaries were too strong
► Disease
► Starvation (cattle disease from Europe)
Chapter 4 Section 5:
Effects of European Rule
► New
Governments
► New Economic Patterns
► Material Improvements
► Education
Governments
► Direct
rule: Europeans controlled African
governments at every level
► Indirect rule: (British) Let African village
leaders keep power, but told them what to
do, and expected them to follow.
Economic Patterns
► Exploited
raw materials in Africa
► Sent materials to factories in Europe
► Turned African land into cash crop farms
► Money system instead of trade/bartering
 Created social classes
 Destroyed village self-sufficiency
 Individualism over community
Material Improvements
► New
roads, railroads, and telegraph systems
► Effects:
 Travel/communication easier
►Africans
worked for low wages building roads,
colonial governments could extend their control,
encouraged migration of Africans (further weakening
family/village ties)
 Hospitals, better medical care, improved
sanitation and water systems
Education
► Europeans
set up elementary schools
► Learned European history and culture, and
basic skills
► Those who went to secondary school
became a part of the “elite” class
► Some “elite” began rejecting their own
traditional cultures
► Others learned about Democracy, and
equality, and began to reject European
rule… African Nationalism would follow