Ch. 16: Section IV: Africa and the Atlantic Slave Trade (Pages 377-381)

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Ch. 16 Section IV Africa and the Atlantic
Slave Trade (Pages 377-381)

• This section is about
• How European explorers of Africa encouraged the
  use of slave labor and eventually led to the
  Atlantic slave trade.
• Triangular trade and its impact on enslaved
  Africans in the Americas as well as on West
  African culture and population.

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• There were a lot of peoples involved in the slave
  trade more than just Africans and Americans
• One of the vocabulary word definitions on page
  377 shows that (triangular trade).
• Also look at the Main Ideas on page 377

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European Exploration in Africa

• Slavery had been in the world since ancient
  times.
• Whats different about this time is the levels
  that it reached by the 1500s.
• This mostly goes back to Europeans exploring
  Africa and a way around it in the 1400s (Henry
  the Navigator, Vasco da Gama..)

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Slavery in Africa

• African slavery was around even in 1000 AD.
• Often it was as punishment for criminals and
  prisoners of war.
• Sometimes they were more servants than slaves,
  some could even earn their freedom, and it was
  not hereditary.
• These forms of slavery changed when the Europeans
  showed up they considered these people
  possessions they could buy and sell and use for
  all kinds of labor.

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The Portuguese in Africa
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• Remember the Portuguese exploring and building
  forts?
• Some Africans were sold to these Portuguese as
  early as 1440 (sometimes by African rulers).
• After they built some colonies (in/near Africa),
  the Portuguese needed more workers, and they now
  knew where to get them.
• They did not treat them well making them work
  long hours (looking for gold) under harsh
  conditions.

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The Atlantic Slave Trade

• In Europe, slavery was just about gone by the
  1400s.
• But the Portuguese got it going again.
• By 1600, 275,000 Africans had been shipped across
  the Atlantic.
• In the 1700s, there were about 6 million more.

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Plantation Laborers

• By the 1520s Spain and Portugal were sending
  slaves to the Caribbean (where they grew sugar
  cane).
• Sugar Plantations needed a lot of (cheap) labor
  to work the fields and make a profit (no machines
  then).
• They had tried to use Native Americans, but many
  of them had died from diseases.
• Remember Bartolome de las Casas? (He was a big
  defender of Native Americans).
• He also convinced everyone Africans could fight
  the diseases better than Native Americans.

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Competing for Trade

• The Portuguese were the first big slave trading
  country.
• Then, the Dutch (and the Dutch West India
  Company) took control of the West African Coast
  and by 1640 were the main slave suppliers to the
  Spanish in the Caribbean.
• They eventually even took over all the Portuguese
  forts along the coast
• England and France also were starting to build
  some colonies at this time.
• .

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• The French and English didnt want the Dutch
  getting all the money from this trade, so they
  started to form their own trading companies.
• And, some wars developed over this and power in
  general between the English, the French, and
  the Dutch.
• The Dutch lost some power during this leaving
  England and France to compete for dominance (with
  England a little stronger).

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Triangular Trade Routes

• This slave trade was just one part of a
  triangular trade.
• Again lets look at U.S. History class
  information.
• ..

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The Middle Passage

• If 6-7 million Africans were slaves more than
  that were actually taken from Africa. We dont
  know how many, but X didnt survive the trip
  (disease, harsh treatment, disasters at sea).
• There was great suffering on the trip.
• People chained together.
• Cramped closed in places.
• Rarely allowed above deck.
• Food one/twice a day
• Some tried to jump overboard.
• Resisters were beaten/tortured.
• And once you survived the trip it may even get
  worse

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Impact of the Slave Trade on Western Africa
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• We always look at what happened with slavery in
  the Americas.
• But, dont ever forget what it did to Africa
  they lost a lot of people.
• Some groups and some cultures of Africa were lost
  forever.
• Many of the strongest and best men of Africa were
  taken from their own people.
• The distrust among Africans (with each other) led
  to many other problems some still today

Finsih the rest on your own
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This is the last slide for today
Make sure page "J" is completed
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