The Atlantic Slave Trade

ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE

1500-1870  THE BUYING AND SELLING OF AFRICANS FOR WORK IN THE AMERICAS  BECAME A MASSIVE ENTERPRISE  1450-1900: 9.5 MILLION AFRICANS WERE TRANSPORTED TO THE AMERICAS

 Between 1450 and the late 1800's, it is estimated that between 10-15 MILLION Africans were kidnapped and sold into slavery.

Native American Slavery

  The expanding European empires in the New World, in North, South, and Central America, lacked a major resource - workers. At first, the European colonists attempted to use Native Americans as a work force, but that did not work very well. – Native Americans could slip away, and return with others to punish those who tried to enslave them. – Many died of European Diseases

 The Portuguese soon discovered that Africans were excellent workers. – They were used to more tropical climate conditions. – Experienced in farming – Strong immune systems – The African people did not want to be slaves. They had to be captured and forced into slavery. A business sprang up - slavers. These were traders who captured and sold people into slavery

THE JOURNEY

 AFRICANS: – CAPTURED – SHIPPED TO THE AMERICAS  1-6 MONTHS – DEHUMANIZING VOYAGE – MANY DIED ALONG THE WAY

THE MIDDLE PASSAGE

 VOYAGE THAT BROUGHT CAPTURED AFRICANS FROM AFRICA TO THE WEST INDIES, NORTH AMERICA, AND SOUTH AMERICA  “MIDDLE LEG” OF THE TRANSATLANTIC TRADE TRIANGLE

THE MIDDLE PASSAGE

 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE JOURNEY: – SICKENING CRUELTY – AFRICANS WERE PACKED INTO THE SHIP – SMELL: BLOOD, SWEAT, EXCREMENT – VICTIMS LAID IN VOMIT AND WASTE – 20% DIED ON THE TRIP – SOME COMMITTED SUICIDE BY JUMPING OFF THE SHIP

The Middle Passage

    Many captured people died on the ships sailing to the New World. Conditions were terrible. People were packed into the hold of ship without regard to their safety or their most basic needs. The slaves who made it alive were strong workers and resistant to disease.

African Slave Ship

Inside of an African Slave Ship

Diagram of a slave ship from the Atlantic slave trade. From an Abstract of Evidence delivered before a select committee of the House of Commons in 1790 and 1791

   For over 300 years, slaves were captured along the west coast of Africa, often with the active help of African kings and merchants. Slaves were traded for beads, textiles, brandy, horses, and guns. Slavery was illegal in the United States after the Civil War, but slaves continued to be traded in Central and South America for another 40 years until finally slavery was declared illegal in Central and South America as well.

The Triangular/Trans-Atlantic Trade

Slave Distribution

National Dominations

Trans-Atlantic Exports of African Slaves 1450-1900:

African Region Number of Slaves Senegambia Upper Guinea 479,9004 411,2004.0 Windward Coast Gold Coast Blight of Benin Blight of Biafra West Central South East Total 183,2001 1,035,60010 2,016,20019 1,463,70014 4,179,50040 470,9004 10,240,200100

Trans-Atlantic Imports of African Slaves (1450 – 1900) Region

Brazil Spanish Empire British West Indies French West Indies British North America and United States Dutch West Indies Danish West Indies Europe (and Islands) Total

Number of Slaves

4,000,000 2,500,000 2,000,000 1,600,000 500,000 500,000 28,000 200,000 11,328,000

United States Slavery

 By 1830: 2 million slaves lived in the United States.

SLAVERY IN THE AMERICAS AFRICANS FACED A HARSH LIFE

 Upon arrival Africans: – Auctioned off – Families were split apart – Worked in the mines, fields, and were servants – Whipped, Beaten, and Raped – Worked from sunup to sundown – No pay – Enslave for LIFE!

African Resistance

  Rebellions: Runaway, Not Work, Act Sick, Strike back at slave holders, destroy crops TO COPE WITH THE HORRORS OF SLAVERY, AFRICANS DEVELOPED A WAY OF LIFE BASED STRONGLY ON THEIR CULTURAL HERITAGE – MUSICAL TRADITIONS – FOLK TALES

EFFECTS OF THE TRANS-ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE

 EFFECTS ON EUROPE: Trading networks expanded   Substantial Economic Gains The engraving, pottery, textile-making, shipbuilding and metal trades flourished in many European countries = employment       Shared business ideas between countries Created companies for trade organization Creates tension/competition between European countries Age of Trade developed into the Age of Colonization of African countries Received African Slaves (200,000 approx.), Sugar, rum, cotton, tobacco, and coffee Global Power

EFFECTS OF THE TRANS-ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE

EFFECTS ON NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA:  Large population of Africans (9.5 million approx.)         African Labor – brought agricultural expertise Plantations Create Agricultural Regions Black populations Mixed Races – Mulatto and African-Americans Establishment Economically Successful Colonies Introduced to African culture (art, music, foods, tradition, folk tales, and religion) Colonial Empires

EFFECTS OF THE TRANS-ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE

EFFECTS ON AFRICA:             Diverted the flow of trade across the Sahara to the Atlantic Coast of West Africa Fall of Sudanese States Portuguese influenced the names of places along the West African Coast: Cape Verde, Cape Palamas, Sierra Leone, El Mina West Africa was introduced to new crops West Africa expanded trading opportunities Converted some to Christianity Lost generations (young and able) Families torn apart Depopulation Received: Guns, rum, Foods, Horses and Tar Lost some cultural traditions Economically damaged

EFFECTS OF THE TRANS-ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE

• • • • • • EFFECTS ON THE WORLD: LASTING INTERNATIONAL TRADING SYSTEMS CHANGED THE SWIMMING ROUTES OF SHARKS IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN GLOBAL ECONOMIC INTERDEPENDENCE Diffusion: Ideas, Culture, Goods, and Diseases INFLUENCED THE COLUMBIAN AND GLOBAL EXCHANGE • FOODS (FRUITS AND VEGETABLES, LIVE STOCK, TOBACCO, AND DISEASE) COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION • Capitalism • Joint-stock companies • Mercantilism • New Social Ranks and Status