The Atlantic Slave Trade

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The Atlantic Slave Trade

• Chapter 20 Section 3
• p. 495-499

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The Evolution of African Slavery

• English colonists began enslaving Africans in the
  Americas around 1500.
• The large demand for cheap labor was the
  motivation.

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Cowrie shells were used as money in the slave
trade.
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Slavery in Africa

• The spread of Islam into Africa led to an
  increase in the slave trade.
• Between 650 and 1600 4.8 million Africans (mostly
  criminals and prisoners of war) were transported
  to Muslim lands of Southwest Asia.

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• Emir Faisal I at Versailles in 1919. His slave
  (unnamed) is pictured at top right. Faisal served
  as King of Iraq from 1921 to 1933.

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Slavery in Africa

• Slaves had some legal rights.
• In Muslim nations, many had positions of
  influence and power, some served as generals in
  the army.
• Slaves could own land and slaves of their own.
• Slaves could escape bondage by marriage into the
  family they served.
• Sons and daughters of slaves were considered
  free.

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The Desire for Africans

• Portuguese traders are the first to deal slaves
  to the Americas.
• High death rates among native Americans spur the
  desire for slave labor.
• African slaves had been exposed to many European
  diseases and had built up immunities to them.
• Africans had experience in large-scale
  agriculture and could be taught plantation work.
• Africans had little knowledge of the land and
  were less likely to escape.

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• Slavery in Zanzibar. 'An Arab master's punishment
  for a slight offence. The log weighed 32 pounds,
  and the boy could only move by carrying it on his
  head.' Unknown photographer, c. 1890

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Spain and Portugal Lead the Way

• By 1650, Spain had 300,000 African slaves working
  on plantations and in gold and silver mines in
  the Americas and the Caribbean.
• During the 17th century, 40 of all Africans
  brought to the Americas went to Brazil.
• The Portuguese brought ten times as many slaves
  to Brazil than there were slaves in North America.

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• 13th century slave market in the Yemen

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• Three Abyssinian slaves in chains

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Slavery Spreads Throughout the Americas

• From 1690 to 1807, England dominated the slave
  trade.
• England transported 1.7 million slaves to their
  colonies and the West Indies.
• 400,000 African slaves were imported to Englands
  American colonies
• The slave population had grown to 2 million there
  by 1830.

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• Distribution of slaves (1450-1900)
• Brazil 35.4
• Spanish Empire 22.1
• British West Indies 17.7
• French West Indies 14.1
• British North America and future United
  States 4.4
• Dutch West Indies 4.4
• Danish West Indies 0.2

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African Cooperation and Resistance

• Many African rulers and merchants played a role
  in the slave trade. They sold other Africans to
  European traders in exchange for gold, guns, or
  other goods.
• Many African leaders voiced opposition to the
  slave trade.

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• Bishop Samuel Adjai Crowther of Nigeria (c. 1807
  - 1891). He was captured by Islamic Fulani slave
  raiders at the age of 14 and emancipated by the
  intervention of the British Navy. He converted to
  Christianity and was later ordained as the first
  African bishop of the Anglican Church.

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• Hamoud bin Mohammed, Sultan of Zanzibar from 1896
  to 1902. He complied with British demands that
  slavery be banned in Zanzibar and that all the
  slaves be freed. For this he was decorated by
  Queen Victoria and his son and heir, Ali bin
  Hamud, was brought to England to be educated.

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A Forced Journey

• After capture, many Africans were shipped to the
  Americas along a profitable trading network.
• Many died along the way.

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Triangular Trade

• The middle passage was the middle leg of the
  transatlantic trade triangle.
• Timber from America, sugar and rum from the
  Caribbean.
• Slaves from Africa.
• Manufactured goods from England and Europe.

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The Middle Passage

• As many slaves as possible were crammed into
  slave ships. Conditions were terrible.
• Suicide among slaves was common.
• 20 of the slaves died before making it to the
  Americas.

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The closeness of the place, and the heat of the
climate, added to the number in the ship, which
was so crowded that each had scarcely room to
turn himself, almost suffocated us. This produced
copious perspirations, so that the air soon
became unfit for respiration, from a variety of
loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness among
the slaves, of which many died, thus falling
victims to the improvident avarice, as I may call
it, of their purchasers.
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Slavery in the Americas

• Slaves who survived faced a difficult life in the
  Americas.
• Some embraced their African culture.
• Some rebelled against their enslavers.

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A Harsh Life

• Slaves were usually auctioned off to the highest
  bidder.
• In the Americas, slavery was a lifelong and
  hereditary condition. The children of slaves
  were enslaved as well.
• Many were subject to beatings and poor treatment.

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• Whipped slave, Baton Rouge, La., April 2, 1863

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Resistance and Rebellion

• Africans coped by developing a way of life based
  on their cultural heritage.
• To resist bondage, slaves often tried to make
  themselves less productive.
• Some openly revolted. In 1522, 20 slaves on
  Hispaniola killed several Spanish colonists.
• In 1739 slaves in South Carolina led the Stono
  Rebellion. Several colonists were killed, the
  militia was called in. Slaves who were captured
  were executed.

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Consequences of the Atlantic Slave Trade (for
Africa)

• Africa lost some of its fittest and most capable
  citizens.
• Countless African families were torn apart.
• The introduction of guns changed African society
  and politics.

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• Map showing European claimants to the African
  continent at the beginning of World War I

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Consequences of the Atlantic Slave Trade (for the
Americas)

• Economic development of the American colonies was
  accelerated.
• African from Upper Guinea brought rice-growing
  techniques to South Carolina.
• North and South America have substantial
  African-American populations.
• African culture has influenced American art,
  music, and food.

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