The Atlantic System

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The Atlantic System

• The systems of trade connecting Africa, Europe,
  and the Americas

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Triangular TradeStage One Goods to Africa

• In the first stage, merchants shipped cotton
  goods (bought from India), weapons, and
  manufactured goods to Africa in exchange for
  slaves or gold.
• Africans vying for power (Dahomey, Ashante) used
  guns and luxury items to compel and cajole their
  way to larger territorial conquests

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Stage Two The Middle Passage

• Africans were taken across the Atlantic to the
  Americas and sold.
• Plantocracy rested on slave trade to manufacture
  sugar for growing consumption.
• Majority to Brazil, Caribbean

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Stage Three Goods to Europe

• Merchants sent the plantations products to
  Europe, where they were used to buy manufactured
  products to be sold in Africa.
• Europes sea power allowed them to be the prime
  movers in the trading systems of the world,
  yielding dynamic economies and leading to
  sea-based Empires and power (eg 1600s - Dutch,
  17-1800s - British)

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The Amistad
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Your Turn

1. Break into groups of 4
2. Brainstorm two questions 5 minutes each!
3. Jot ideas from your groups discussion at the
   bottom of your notes. If called on, be ready to
   discuss.
4. How and why were contacts between Africans and
   European areas different from contacts between
   Africans and Islamic areas?
5. To what extent was Africa in control of the slave
   trade? To what extent was Europe in control of
   the situation?

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Discussion

• In reading Slavery and Human Society, think
  about the following
• How has slavery differed in different cultures
  and over time? What makes African slavery in the
  Americas unique?
• What are some main points about justifications
  for human slavery?
• Why was the 18th century different?