Roots of Self Government & Slavery

Slavery Grows• As we have said, when

plantations started popping up, the number of slaves in the thirteen colonies grew dramatically.

• Slavery had already been in Africa for centuries. One difference was that their slaves were treated as servants instead of property.

• The way Europeans captured slaves may be different than you think. Europeans didn’t capture anybody. Africans captured their fellow Africans and traded them to us.

• This was the start of the transatlantic slave trade. That means across the Atlantic.

Triangular Trade• The Journey from Africa to the New

World became known as the middle passage. It was a long hard journey and many Africans died from disease, mistreatment, or neglect. It is estimated that during the middle passage alone, three million Africans died.

• As the slave trade really started to pick up speed, the English Colonists developed a very profitable system known as the Triangular trade. There were three legs to the journey. During the first leg, people from the colonies would sail to the West Indies and buy Molasses (syrupy sugar). With this molasses they would make rum. The colonists would then sail to Africa and trade rum, guns, gunpowder, and tools for slaves. They would then take the slaves back to the West Indies and sell the slaves. With the profits, the colonists would buy more molasses. This made many people extremely wealthy.

• Slaves became more and more important as they helped to build the thirteen colonies. Colonists passed laws called slave codes in order to limit the rights of slaves. Slaves were seen as property, not human beings.

Without using a calculator, estimate the following. Do not

share your answers.

How long ago was 1 million seconds?

How long ago was 1 billion seconds?

How long ago was 1 trillion seconds?

• As the thirteen colonies began to develop products to trade around the world, the King of England became very interested. The king believed that the colonies were there to benefit the mother country (England). This is an economic theory known as mercantilism.

• Merchants from the New England colonies were making a ton of money. They earned the nickname Yankees, which meant they were hardworking and always ready to make a deal.

• Colonists began to get more and more rights. By the early 1700’s, every colony had a legislature, or a group of people with the power to make laws. The legislature usually had two houses, one set up by the king, and one elected assembly set up by the people.

• More people were getting the right to vote. By the 1700’s, in most colonies, voting rights were given to white men over the age of 21 that owned property.

• England even passed the English Bill of Rights that gave people such rights as a trial by jury. In fact, English colonists in America had more rights than the English themselves.