The Atlantic Slave Trade

1. The Atlantic Slave Trade

2. Ideology of Slavery • As we saw earlier in class, there was a feeling of inferiority of Africans by the Europeans • The English had a negative meaning with “blackness” and Africa • Dark skin was a mark of inferiority • English viewed Africans as heathans b/c they weren’t Christians • “Savagery” England was unsure of African origins and if Africans were even human • Human history has shown that people tend to fear/hate things and people that they do not understand

3. The Triangular Trade • A system of trade was set up between Europe, Africa and the Americas in colonial times. • Crops and other resources from the Americas were sent to Europe and Africa • Finished goods in Europe were sent to the Americas • Labor/slaves came from Africa to Europe and the Americas • Let’s draw a map to illustrate this…

4. Collecting Slaves • The process of getting slaves from Africa to the Americas was called the Middle Passage • Capture: a business venture of selling people at first, but as demand for slaves increased, slaves were beginning to be kidnapped • The Long March: from interior of Africa to the west coast where they could board ships • Up to a 200 mile journey where most died on the way and a slave might have several owners on the journey

5. Arrival on the Coast: Here they were sold after they were inspected and examined. • Subject to branding once purchased to show who your owner was • Waited on ship until it was full • If they didn’t get sold they would wait in a barracoon. • These were castles where slaves were stored in dungeons or holding pens on the Western coast of Africa until ready to go to Americas. Horrible treatment, disease, and starvation • Most famous of Factories was at El Mina Castle, a Dutch slave factory that translates to “The Mine”

6. Journey to the Americas: 3-6 month journey by ship across the Atlantic. • Many Africans thought the whites were cannibals and might eat them. Suicide was very prevalent, so much so that the sailors were trained to stop them. • Conditions were unimaginable on board • Torture and abuse were common • Little to no food, disease and hygiene very bad • Mortality very high (25-50% died on the journey) • Packed very tight: trying to make the most $$$ • Sick slaves sometimes thrown overboard, and an insurance policy was taken on slaves

7. Tight Packing

8. African Responses to slavery • Depression was severe- imagine what it must have been like to be captured for no reason and be shipped somewhere by strangers. 2/3 of deaths came from “melancholy” • Suicide was a way out of the unknown • Revolts common, but rarely successful • Slaves were often separated from their families and ethnic tribes before they got on the ships.

9. Arrival in Americas • “The Scramble” Slaves are run off the ships and grabbed by traders negotiating for prices • Slaves also put on the Auction block to be sold to the highest bidder. • Strong looking slaves usually went for more money

10. The “Seasoning” Process • This was the way for masters to make sure slaves were well behaved. It involved: • Giving slaves a Christian name • Having them learn European Languages • Assigning them to a work gang • Some blacks were made to be drivers of work gangs • 1st Gang: Best/strongest workers • 2nd Gang: Women and older men that did lighter field work • 3rd Gang: mostly children carried food and water to 1st & 2nd • Domestic Workers • Gangs Used because they worked long and harder in groups

11. Slavery in the Early Colonies • Only law in British colonies was not to enslave Christians • 1641- Massachusetts legalizes slavery • Other states follow. Northern states making money off it • 1663- Virginia passes a law making slavery matrilineal • If the mother of a child was a slave, that child was a slave • Many slaves had children from their owners, giving owners more slaves • Slavery is being decided by and linked to race…especially after Bacon’s Rebellion

12. Bacon’s Rebellion 1676 • Nathanial Bacon recruits people to help him defeat Native Americans that have land the Virginia settlers want. (Poor vs. Rich in Virginia) • Revolt against the colonial governor • Rebellion was interracial as Africans also fought • Led to two major things: • Caused fear of interracial groups that were class-based • Led to idea of keeping blacks un-free without land so they didn’t have a common ground with poor white settlers • Laws in South set up to distinguish slavery and servitude

13. New Laws After Bacon’s • Status based on Race • Sanctioned slavery for life • Slave Status Matrilineal • *Slaves become chattel- legal property of owner • These laws were reinforced by the Negro Acts • Laws denying these rights to previously free blacks: • Voting, testifying in court, owning property, moving freely • States outlawed free blacks in their territories • These were enforced through extreme violence

14. Differences between Colonies • The Northern and the Southern Colonies both had slaves, but they differed by: • Type of labor: • South had large scale plantations with labor-intensive agriculture. • North had more urban slavery (like working in a home or at a port) • Population: • More in the South to use for the massive plantations

15. Use of slaves and Crops • Northern Colonies: Ship building, slaves in cities working for families • New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania: Agricultural, but not nearly as large as in South • Chesapeake: Tobacco • Carolinas and Georgia: Rice • Rice was good to grow here in marshes, but it was Extremely hard work

16. African Culture during Slavery • Keeping their native cultures was a form of resistance • Sense of Community • Community highly valued back in Africa, and although they came from different African cultures, they used their similarities to form bonds • Spirituality- African beliefs stay for 50 years before Christianity became popular with slaves • Believed that death was just a part of the circle of life • Transmigration: Your soul would return to Africa if you died • This is one of the reasons suicide was so common • Some would collect trinkets to prepare for the after life

17. More on Spirituality • Slaves that committed suicide were called “Flying Africans” because their souls were flying back to Africa away from the cruelty of their master • Funerals and burials were kept to African traditions • Most funerals were at night, and some feared that slaves might revolt, so they were later banned.

18. Cosmogram: “Circle of life”

19. OlaudahEquiano Questions • Give at least two examples of the conditions Olaudah encountered on his ship. • What was an option that Olaudah often thought about that would have been better than slavery?