The Atlantic Slave Trade

Setting The Stage

• Sugar and Tobacco plantations need lots of workers

• Wanted to use Native Americans– Disease and War

ruined that plan

• Look to Africa to solve that problem

Causes of African Slavery• Slavery existed in Africa• Increased with the

spread of Islam– Prisoners of War – bought

& sold– Some legal rights &

Social mobility– Marry out of it

• Portuguese– More interested in gold

first– Changes with American

colonization

Demand For Africans

• Exposed to European disease – immunity

• Experience in farming

• Did not know their way around – not likely to escape

• Skin color made them stand out – easy to catch if they escape

Little known facts on slavery in the United States• What % of Southerners owned slaves?

– 4.8%4.8%

• What % of slaves from Africa actually made it to the United States?

– 5.4%5.4% (about 645,000 out of 12,000,000)– Most ended up in the Caribbean (Haiti, Dominican

Republic, Cuba, Jamaica) and Brazil

• True or FalseTrue or False: There were free African-Americans living in the United States that owned slaves.

– True. Some examples from an 1860 census:• New Orleans, LA: 10,689 free African-Americans

resided in New Orleans in 1860. Over 3,000 (28%) owned slaves

• Charleston, South Carolina: In 1860, there were 125 free African-Americans living in Charleston that owned slaves.

Atlantic Slave Trade

• 1500 – 1600 – 300,000• 1500 – 1700 – 1.3 million• 1500 – 1870 – 9.5 million• Spain (Americas) takes an

early lead followed by the Portuguese (Brazil)

Slavery Spreads

• England now the front runner in slave trade (West Indies)

• Cooperation from African rulers & merchants– Capture Africans to be enslaved– Wait for the Europeans on the coast– Gold & Guns

• Some opposition once it grew larger

• Merchants just changed their routes

Forced Journey

• Triangular Trade– Europeans trade manufactured

goods in Africa for slaves– Slaves traded to West Indies for

sugar, coffee, and tobacco that were sold back in Europe

• Secondary Triangle– Rum from Americas to Africa for

slaves– Take Africans to West Indies and

sell them for sugar and molasses (needed to make rum)

The Middle Passage

• The voyage of slaves from Africa to West Indies

• Very cruel treatment– Whippings– Disease– Abuse– Suicide– 20% die on the trip

Pictures

Pictures – Part II

Slavery in the Americas

• Auctioned to highest bidder

• Worked in mines, fields, or as servants

• Little food, poor living conditions

• Long days & Beatings

• For life as well as hereditary

Resistance and Rebellion

• Cultural Heritage – Music

• Break Tools• Uproot Plants• Work Slowly• Run Away• Revolts – Stono

Rebellion (S.C.)

Consequences

• Africans lost generations• Tore apart families• Introduction of guns• Contribution of labor• Brought their expertise and

culture• African-American population

• Slaves were not the only thing transported across the Atlantic…