2 the Atlanctic Slave Trade Teacher

8/3/2019 2 the Atlanctic Slave Trade Teacher

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2-the-atlanctic-slave-trade-teacher 1/35

The Atlantic Trade

The Triangular Trade



Definition

Triangular Trade:

Trade routes between Africa, Europe andthe Americas duringthe Atlantic SlaveTrade.



Portugal 1424-1434: Prince Henry

the Navigator paid for voyages along the West

Coast of Africa in searchof fishing banks.

1441, Antam Gonclavescaptured 10 Africans near Cape Bojador. In 1481,Portugal built the 1st

European fort called Fort

Elmina.

Prince Henry the Navigator



Fort

Elmina



Spain

They needed slaves towork on their plantations in South

America & in theCaribbean. In the 16th

century, Charles Iissued the 1st Asiento, alicense to import slavesinto Spanish Colonies.This gave Spain amonoploy on the slavetrade.

King Charles I



Asiento



England

In 1662, Sir JohnHawkins took 3 shipsto Sierra Leone &

captured 300 slaves.



England

Hawkins later convinced QueenElizabeth I to

participate in theslave trade.



England

They began to bringslaves to theCaribbean. They

formed the Royal African Company in1672. This allowedEnglish colonies in

America to easily buyslaves from Englishtraders.



England At the beginning only a few slaves came to

English colonies. But when the big tobacco, cotton and rice

plantations grew in the colonies in the south the

slave trade increased. At the conclusion of the War of SpanishSuccession, the Treaty of Utrecht gave to GreatBritain a thirty-year asiento, or contract, tosupply an unlimited number of slaves to the

Spanish colonies, and 500 tons of goods per year. This gave England the monopoly on the slave

trade.



Maps of the Triangular Trade





Stage One

Ships left Europe loaded with goods, such as guns,tools, textiles & rum.

Crews with guns went ashore to capture slaves.

Slaves were obtained by:

1. Kidnapping2. Trading

3. People were given by chiefs as tributes (gifts)

4. Chiefs would send people who were in debt

5. Chiefs would send criminals through judicial

process

6. Prisoners of tribal wars were also sent.



Goree, or Slave-Stick

A French naval officer, in the Angola region in

the late eighteenth century, describes howslave traders used "a forked branch whichopens exactly to the size of a neck so the

head can't pass through it. The forked branchis pierced with two holes so that an iron pincomes across the neck of the slave . . ., sothat the smallest movement is sufficient to

stop him and even to strangle him´



Goree, or Slave-Stick





Forced Participation

African Chiefs did resist in the beginning;however, they needed weapons for defence.

The Europeans were too powerful;therefore, any effort to resistance wasunsuccessful

If chiefs did supply slaves, they werethreatened to be taken as slaves.





Slaves were held in

prisons along the westcoast of Africa.

They were waiting to put

on slaves ships.

Those that journeyedfrom the interior and were

not fit for the ship wereleft on the shores to die



Stage Two: The Middle Passage

- Ships sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas

- The journey took 8-10 weeks

- Some Africans tried to jump ship, refused to eatand rebelled.

- Loss of a slave¶s life was a loss of $ for thesailors.





Stage Two

³Loose packing´ meant that the captainswould take on board fewer slaves in hopeto reduce sickness and death.

³Tight packing´ meant that the captainswould carry as many slaves as their shipcould hold, as they believed that manyblacks would die on the voyage anyway





Shackles

Describe how Slaves felt.





Stage Three

Africans would be sold at auctions in the Americas

The ships¶ captains would use the $ fromtheir sale to buy a 3rd cargo of rawmaterials: sugar, spices or tobacco.

They sold this for a further large profit in

Europe. In Europe, they would convert the raw

materials into finished product.





Auctions There were 3 ways slaves were auctioned off:

1. Public Auctions:

- They put tar on the slaves to hide any soresand cuts

- Slaves were inspected

- An auction to took place and the higher bidder would get to purchase the slave.

- Bids were taken as long as an inch of a candle

burned.- Slaves were branded

- Families were separated

- They were given a European name.





Auctions

2. Private Auctions:

- Similar to public auctions

- They were indoors and red markers wouldbe placed on the door to indicate anauction.





Auctions

3. A Scramble:

- They would take place on the docks or

on the deck of the ship- There would be a fixed price per head

- Slave owners would go in and grab who

they wanted to purchase.





Auctions

American born slaves who had skills werethe most expensive

African born slaves were less $, as theyhad to be ³broken in´

Age, sex and skills determined the cost

Slaves with a lot of scars were consideredtoo rebellious



Slavery Abolished in the BritainEmpire

1807 = The slave trade was abolished in the BritishEmpire, which meant that no slaves would becarried from Africa in British ships.

1834 = Emancipation Act stated that slaves under 6 years old were freed; field hands over 6 had towork for their owners for 6 more years; houseslaves had to work for 10 more years.

Britain gave 20 million pounds in compensation toformer slave owners and slaves received nothing.

1838 all slaves were given complete freedom

Slavery in the USA was not abolished until 1865

Documents

2 the Atlanctic Slave Trade Teacher