The Transatlantic Slave Trade

By: Kevin Lu

AP Euro-Kinberg

Period 5

Origins of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

Began in 15th century when Portugese kidnapped natives from the West Coast of Africa and took them back to Europe ("Africa and the Transatlantic Slave Trade")– 10% of Lisbon in early 16th

century is of African descent ("Africa and the Transatlantic Slave Trade")

As the demand for labor in colonial possessions in the Americas grew with increasing demand for production, more and more European countries began to implement slave labor (Chambers 544)– First Spanish captives taken from

present-day Cameroon in 1503 ("Africa and the Transatlantic Slave Trade") Use of Slaves by Countries in Colonial

Economies (“Abolition”)

Triangular Trade Between home country and two

overseas areas over Atlantic Ocean (Chambers 543-544)

– Home country carries manufactured goods to overseas areas (Chambers 544)

– Africa supplies slaves who are then brought to New World for labor (Chambers 544)

– Labor in New World then produces raw materials (sugar, cotton, tobacco, indigo, etc.) (“Trade and Commerce”)

– Raw materials brought back to home country for manufacturing (Chambers 544)

– Cycle continues

The Triangular Trade (“Trade and Commerce”)

What “Slavery” Means

Slavery is when an individual is owned by another, who is able to control and impose labor upon the enslaved person. Thus, the owner is able to control all aspects of the enslaved person’s living conditions. ("What Is Slavery?")

– Common conditions of slavery are:

• No Freedom• No Choice• No Money• No option to escape any

of the three assignments ("What Is Slavery?")

A Slave Ship by Joseph Mallord William Turner (Appiah)

The “Middle Pasage” The passage across the Atlantic

Ocean transporting slaves from Africa to the New World (Equiano)– Extremely tight conditions for

slaves, who were packed together below deck like common goods and journey could be anywhere from 5 weeks to 3 months (Equiano)

– No room to stand and slaves were shackled to ship with little food, little to no exercise and most importantly no light or information on their destination, future, or families (who they were separated from) (Equiano)

• Pleas for information were laughed at by crew members (Equiano)

The Path of the Middle Passage (Equiano)

The “Middle Passage” Continued Overwhelming amount of slaves perished on

journey (Lovejoy 312)• Many died from starvation or infectious

disease, which spread like wildfire in the cramped conditions, lack of clean water and bad sanitation (Lovejoy 312)

• Included dysentery, malaria, small pox, yellow fever and others (Lovejoy 312-313)

• Many died of brutal punishments, even for not being “quiet” enough (Lovejoy 312)

• Others still even took their own life in the fearful conditions (Lovejoy 313)

Ships could be “tight” or “loose” packers (“The Middle Passage”)

• Tight has higher rate of mortality, but more slaves transported (“The Middle Passage”)

• Loose has higher rate of survival, but less slaves transported (“The Middle Passage”)

• In the end, most ships resorted to being “tight” packers, and thus mortality rates increased from 13 to 50% at height of Triangular Trade (“The Middle Passage”)

• Of 9-15 million transported, 3-5 million perished including both crew members and slaves (“The Middle Passage”)

A “tight” packer ship’s layout (“The Middle Passage”)

European Influence In Africa

• Great Empires in West Africa include Mali, Ghana, Songhay and Kindoms of Lunda, Dahomey, Asante, Ndongo, Chocke and Oyo (Obadina)

• Little to no resistance to more powerful Europeans with advanced firearms and war tactics (Obadina)– Eager to agree to any terms with the

Europeans (Obadina)• Leaders of these Kingdoms soon made deals with

Europeans who landed on coast to trade captives for manufactured goods and precious metals from Europe (Obadina)

A map drawn by Englishmen of Africa in the late 1700s (Obadina)

European Influence in Africa Continued

• Main traffickers of slaves are warlords, wealthy merchants and nobility (Obadina)

• There is no idea of “African patriotism”, and the traffickers were quick to offer up others they had no connection with (Obadina)– Traffickers selfish and narrow-

minded with sights on being rich from a new and highly profitable trade (Obadina)

• Amazed by the precious products brought by Europeans, they were quick to offer prisoners of war, those in deep family debt and criminals up for slavery (Obadina)– But much of time, kidnapping

also contibuted to the amount of slaves (Obadina)

Suppliers of Slaves in West Africa (Lovejoy 345)A map drawn by Englishmen of Africa

in the late 1700s (Obadina)

Economic Importance of Slaves

• Plantation economy produced huge numbers of crops ("Africa and the Transatlantic Slave Trade")

– Keep flow of profits into the host nation as European country exports manufactured goods in exchange for a larger quantity of raw materials, supplies and physical money (“Africa…”)

• Capital accumulates in nations, especially in France (“Africa…”)

– Actually number of European settlers there was very small; most are plantation owners (“Africa…”)

– Rest are slaves from Africa who provide cheap, essentially free labor (“Africa…”)

– Huge proportion of slaves provides mass production of crops (“Africa…”)

• Island of Saint-Domingue in 1790 has 500,000 slaves compared with 35,000 whites and 28,000 natives (“Africa…”)

• Slaves are integral part of triangular trade that provide link between West Indies and host country with Africa and keep machine of mercantilism running (“Africa…”)

Chart of Slave Trade between 1520 and 1867 (“Africa…”)

Major Exporters of and Destinations for Slaves

• Major Exporters: Britain, Netherlands, France (Nantes is chief slaving port in Europe), Spain, Portugal (Obadina)

• Major Destinations: West Indies (Jamaica, Saint-Domingue, Haiti etc), Brazil, Spanish possessions in South America, Florida, British Colonies (Obadina) Slave Movement (Appiah)

Important Slave Market “Factory” Regions

Factory: forts on the African coast for defense and organization of slaving enterprises (Obadina)

– African chiefs and European slavers coordinated at these (Obadina)

• Europeans did not penetrate African continent far due to harsh topography and native resistance (Obadina)

• Thus rely on African chiefs to supply slaves in return for goods (Obadina)

• This trade and flow of supplies (including slaves) occurred at these factories (Obadina)

– Most departures to the New World took place on these (Obadina)

– Major ports: Benguela, Elmina and Bonny (Obadina)

– Bight of Benin came to be called “The Slave Coast” (Obadina)

Major Slave Factory Regions (Obadina)

Impact on Africa

• At same time, Africans are divided after enslaving each other as prisoners and criminals (Obadina)

• Human resources exhausted and population in West Africa declines sharply (Rubinstein 254)

• Africans profited from slave trade economically (Rubinstein 254) – Manufactured goods such as firearms, utensils and tools come

into their possession (Rubinstein 253)– Precious and refined metals circulate through West Africa

(Rubinstein 254-255)– Smaller amount of people+higher amount of goods=higher

standard of living for each person (Rubinstein 255)

Impact on Europe

• Mercantilism in 16th, 17th, 18th centuries overseas works very well (Scott)

• Imperialistic states profit from triangular trade as there is net flow of imports into country as opposed to exports (Scott)

• Large amounts of raw material such as sugar, cotton, wheat and corn imported into country from New World (Scott)

• Capital accumulation helps to finance Industrial Revolution especially in England (Scott)

• Prosperity in colonization and imperialistic trade leads to increase in national pride within nations (Evans)– Colonial Exposition in Paris displays diversity in colonies

(Evans)

The flow of mercantilism (Scott)

Impact on New World Many blacks implanted in New World

– Population of West Indies and much of Carribean is predominantly of African descent (Chambers 544)

• Large number of mulattoes in the region (of partially black descent) (Obadina)

• Sometimes slaves even revolt such as under Toussaint L’Ouverture in Haiti in 1791-1794 (Chambers 598-600)

– Revolution transforming a slave society into a free nation shakes up view of slavery in world and helps the abolition movement get going (Chambers 599-600)

– Many American slaves in southern plantations would eventually be emancipated in 1863 (“Trade and Commerce”)

– South American region also has a significant number of blacks even today (“Trade and Commerce”)

Distribution of slaves in New World (Appiah)

Decline of the Slave Trade• Abolition movement begins with

reinterpretation of Christian duty (spread thorough newer forms of Protestantism such as Quakerism) towards the “oppressed savage”, AKA slave as well as brotherly and spiritual love and equality for all (Rubinstein 267)

– Activists like William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson in England begin campaigning for abolition in late 18th century as public opinion spreads the idea through news (Rubinstein 267)

• Abolished in Britain by Parliament in 1807 (Chambers 776)

– Frederick Douglass helps begin movement in America, which culminates in Civil War and Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 (“Abolition”)

– Final part of West Indies joins in 1833 as a result of influence from parent nations as movement spreads across Europe (Chambers 776)

– Spanish and Portuguese possessions in Central and South America are eventually freed of the slave practice, with Brazil finally joining in 1888 (Chambers 776)

An Abolition Pamphlet (“Abolition”)

The Legacy and Lasting Impact of the Slave Trade

• Permanent damage on African culture and relations with whites (Rubinstein 265)

• Racism is now a permanent part of national and personal consciousness that started with the rising in public opinion about the abolition movement in Britain (Rubinstein 265)

• African culture stinted and unable to develop individually without slavery and European influence and dominance (Shahadah)

– Think about what African culture could have been if not influenced by English, French, Dutch, etc. cultures (Shahadah)

– Called Maafa, or genocide in Swahili, in Africa (Shahadah)

The Honourable Slave (Shahadah)

Works Cited• "Abolition." Abolition: (Library of Congress Exhibition). Library of Congress, 23 July 2010. Web. 18

Dec. 2012. • "Africa and the Transatlantic Slave Trade." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2012. • Appiah, Anthony, and Henry Louis. Gates. Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African

American Experience. New York: Basic Civitas, 1999. Print. • Chambers, Mortimer. The Western Experience. 9th ed. New York: Knopf; [distributed by Random

House, 1974. Print. • Equiano, Olaudah. "The Middle Passage." Recovered Histories-The Stories of Enslavement. Anti-

Slavery by Heritage, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2012. • Evans, Martin. "Projecting a Greater France." History Today. History Today, n.d. Web. 18 Dec.

2012. • Lovejoy, Paul E. Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa. Cambridge, UK:

Cambridge UP, 2000. Print. • ""The Middle Passage"" "The Middle Passage" [ushistory.org]. Independence Hall Association of

Philadelphia, 2008. Web. 18 Dec. 2012. • Obadina, Tunde. "Slave Trade as Root to African Crisis." Slave Trade as Root to African Crisis.

Africa Economic Analysis, 2000. Web. 18 Dec. 2012. • Rubinstein, W. D. Genocide: A History. Harlow, England: Pearson Longman, 2004. Print. • Scott, Jennifer. "The Slave Trade." The Slave Trade. Oxford University Press, n.d. Web. 18 Dec.

2012. • Shahadah, 'Alik. "African Holocaust." AFRICAN HOLOCAUST | Greatest Holocaust in History |

Slavery | Reparations| History. African Code, Oct. 2007. Web. 18 Dec. 2012. • "Trade and Commerce." Understanding Slave Initiative. National Maritime Museum, n.d. Web. 18

Dec. 2012. <http://www.understandingslavery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=307&Itemid=152>.

• "What Is Slavery?" What Is Slavery?: The Abolition of Slavery Project. East of England Broadband Network, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2012.