The Slave Trade

1
The Slave Trade
2
The Atlantic Slave Trade
When?

• 1450 - Spanish Portuguese start slaving in
  Africa
• 1865 - still smuggling slaves until the end of
  the civil war (technically illegal in 1808)

3
The Atlantic Slave Trade
Why? (3 reasons combined)

• Labor shortage (not enough workers)
• Ethnocentrism (feelings of superiority)
• Greed

4
The Atlantic Slave Trade

• Where to?

Where from?
5
60
65
30
35
5
5
Number of people enslaved

• 30 million taken from their homes

• 10 million die during capture phase

• 10 million die during middle passage

• 10 million survive to make it over the ocean

6
Phases of the Slave Trade

• Capture

• Most captured 50-100 miles inland

• Tribes often did not have a choice in helping
  capture neighbors divide and conquer

7
Phases of the Slave Trade

• West African expectations about slavery

• Slaves were not slaves for life

• A slaves child would not be a slave

8
Phases of the Slave Trade

• Capture

Cape Coast Castle, Gold Coast, 1727
Christiansborg Castle, Gold Coast, ca. 1750
9
Phases of the Slave Trade

• 2. The Middle Passage

• Journey over the Atlantic Ocean

• 400-500 people in a boat with little air much
  disease

10
Phases of the Slave Trade

• 2. The Middle Passage - Tight Pack

• Higher mortality, higher profits

11
Phases of the Slave Trade

• 2. The Middle Passage - Loose pack

• Lower mortality, lower profits

12
Phases of the Slave Trade

• 3. Seasoning -

• Brutal work camps, 4-5 months in Caribbean

• Meant to train people to be slaves

13
Thinking Question

• (Dont write down just think!)
• Given how many people died during the Capture
  phase or on the Middle passage, what do you
  think went on in the minds of the slave catchers
  and slave traders?

14
Triangle Trade
North America
Molasses
Rum, weapons
The Caribbean
Africa
Slaves
15
Growth of Slavery

• Why Africans?

• Americas are desperate for labor
• Harder for Africans to run away than Native
  Americans
• African strengths - agricultural practices,
  resistance to diseases

16
Growth of Slavery

• How did African slaves fight back?

• Open revolt (rare)
• Work slowdowns
• Breaking Tools
• Poisoning food

17
Thinking Question

• (Dont write down just think!)
• While many slaves resisted, not all of them did.
  What did they have to lose?

18
Growth of Slavery

• How much did it grow?

• 1800 - 1 million in slavery
• 1860 - 4 million (1/3 of Southern population)

19
Growth of Slavery

• Why?

Cotton Gin

• Invented 1793 - made slavery VERY productive

• 100x faster than by hand

• More efficient more (so need more slaves)