Transcript Systems of Forced Labor - Townsend Harris High School

Aim: How did systems of forced
labor affect the world between
1450 – 1750?
From the title page to abolitionist Anthony Benezet’s book
Some Historical Account of Guinea, London, 1788
The Treaty of Tordesillas, 1494 &
The Pope’s Line of Demarcation
West and Central Africa, c. 1500
This map shows the
Empire of Songhai
(1464–1591), the
Kongo Kingdom (c.
1400–1700), and the
major kingdoms of
the West African
forest region.
This should look familiar, what
do you remember about the
Songhai and Kongo empires?
THE KINGDOMS OF THE
KONGO AND MWENE MUTAPA
THE SONGHAY KINGDOM

Empire was formed under Sunni Ali (14641492), who extended rule over the entire middle
Niger valley.

He developed a system of provincial
administration to secure the conquests.

Sunni Ali’s successors were Muslim rulers with
the title of askia; by the mid-16th century their
state dominated the central Sudan.

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Islamic and indigenous traditions combined.
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Men and women mixed freely; women went
unveiled.

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Songhay remained dominant until defeated by
Moroccans in 1591.

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Muslim influence widely spread- even in
regions without Islamic states.

What are the "common elements" in African
societies?
Flourished along the lower Congo River by the late 15th
century.
It was an agricultural society whose people were skilled
in weaving, pottery making, blacksmithing, and
carving.
Division of labor: women
dominated crop cultivation and domestic tasks; men
cleared the forest, hunted, and traded.
A hereditary central kingship ruled over local nonhereditary chiefs.
By the 9th century began building royal stone courts
(zimbabwe). Great Zimbabwe (peak 11th century)- Massive
stone buildings and walls were constructed.
Its ruler, the Mwene Mutapa, controlled a large territory
reaching to the Indian Ocean. Zimbabwe dominated
gold sources and trade with coastal ports of the Indian
Ocean network.
Decline of the Kongo Empire was due to rival factions.
Decline of Great Zimbabwe is a mystery.
To what extent did slavery exist before European contact?
Define yokes. What type of slavery does this painting represent?
 Trace
the stages in which the Portuguese
contacted and gained entrance into Africa.

Started off along the African coast –

established trading forts (factories) ex. El Mina –

Allowed trade with interior states –

Opened new markets –

Missionary efforts –

Southern movement.
The Portuguese sailed
down the west African coast
and reached the Cape of
Good Hope in 1487
Describe Portuguese
expansion using the map.
They set up factories
(forts/trading posts staffed
by merchants)
What other influences did
the Portuguese have on
African empires?
Cape Coast Castle, West Africa
 They
had the consent of the local rulers
 Missionaries
Christianity
tried to convert Africans to
 Portuguese
were impressed with Gold
Coast and Ghana
 Portuguese
 Some
figures appeared in African art
slaves went to Portugal but by the 16th
century most went to Brazil and Spanish
America
Ivory
Pepper
Animal skins
Portuguese
Gold
Slaves
African
Rulers
Firearms
According to this map, which European nations participated in the
Atlantic Slave Trade and which countries received slaves? Which
country received the largest number of slaves?
Sharks followed the slave ships across the Atlantic!
Give reasons why captains would throw captives
overboard.
Compare and contrast the Middle Passage with The Triangle Trade.
Slaves were brought from
Africa for the newly
established plantations and the
trade became trans-oceanic.

How did the slave trade affect the Africans in the
New World ? the Kingdoms that they came from?
Before European Contact



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Slaves were used mostly in a
domestic capacity
Illegal to enslave Muslims (it
was done anyway by many
Sudanic states)
Enslavement of women for
harems
African rulers usually
enslaved their neighbors, not
their own people
After European Contact

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Slaves were generally sent to
work on plantations (i.e. sugar
production)
Men were more valuable as
slaves (“Indies Piece”)
African states expanded their
power because they traded
and got European guns,
pushed into the interior of
Africa to capture more slaves
(Asante and Dahomey were
powerful slaving states)
Q: Discuss the changes and continuities of slavery in Africa before and after
European contact.
1789  wrote and published, The Interesting
Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or
Gustavus Vassa the African.
The forced
migration of over
15 million Africans
to the New World is
one of the most
significant
outcomes of both
the Age of
Exploration and
the Columbian
Exchange that
followed.
(Kaplan)
Analyze the painting. How does this painting interpret the slave
experience during the 1450 – 1750 time period?
MAURITANIA: New anti-slavery law not enough for real change, activists say
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73936
Slavery is now illegal in Mauritania
DAKAR, 24 August 2007
What was the encomienda system?
How did it work?
Gold panning scene from “Montserrat Manuscript” of Oviedo's General History (HM 177, Vol. I, f. 18v.) Book VI, Chapter
VII on “Deposits” or “Miscellanies”. Courtesy of the Henry E. Huntington Library (San Marino, USA).
A grant of authority over a population of Amerindians
in the Spanish colonies. It provided the grant holder
with a supple of cheap labor and periodic payments
of goods by the Amerindians. It obliged the grant
holder to Christianize the Amerindians.
Use your own words to define the encomienda system.
(How did they organize their vast empire?)
Define: Reconquista
Cycle of Conquest & Colonization
Explorers
Official
European
Colony!
The Colonial Class System
Peninsulares
Mestizos
Native Indians
Creoles
Mulattos
Black Slaves
Treasures
from the Americas!