1 / 16

Slave Trade and European Imperialism

Slave Trade and European Imperialism. The Slave Trade. When Europeans began to colonize the Americas, they used Native Americans for slave labor. Diseases, however, decreased the population of Native American slaves dramatically.

yitta
Download Presentation

Slave Trade and European Imperialism

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Slave Trade and European Imperialism

  2. The Slave Trade • When Europeans began to colonize the Americas, they used Native Americans for slave labor. • Diseases, however, decreased the population of Native American slaves dramatically. • The Native Americans were not used to diseases the colonists carried. • By the mid-1600’s, colonists in the Americas had turned to Africa as a new source of labor.

  3. Triangular Trade • A pattern of trade known as triangular trade occurred between Europe, the Americas, and Africa. • Merchants from Europe brought manufactured goods to trade for captured and enslaved Africans in one leg of the triangle. • Africans were traded for items such as guns and cloth from Europe, and rum and gunpowder from the American colonies.

  4. Triangular Trade • Another part of the trade triangle was known as the Middle Passage. Enslaved Africans were transported from Africa to the West Indies on crowded, dangerous ships. • They were traded for sugar, molasses, and other products in the Americas. • These agricultural goods were shipped to Europe and European colonies, making up the third leg of the trade triangle.

  5. Triangular Trade • A Dutch ship that landed in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619 was the first known slave ship in North America. • The ship left Africa carrying 100 Africans, but arrived in Jamestown with only 20. • It was common for people to perish on slave ships. Often the ships carried hundreds of people in dangerous conditions. • They were chained together by their hands and feet. • The people were held in spaces that were only tall enough to sit in, so they were unable to stand up. • Illness spread quickly in the slave ships, and many Africans died in transit between Africa and the colonies.

  6. Triangular Trade • They were chained together by their hands and feet. • The people were held in spaces that were only tall enough to sit in, so they were unable to stand up. • Illness spread quickly in the slave ships, and many Africans died in transit between Africa and the colonies.

  7. Colonization of Africa • At first, European explorers would only explore the coasts of Africa. • The interior was unexplored and unknown. Exploration became safer as science improved. Most of Africa had been mapped by the mid-19th century. • Steamships and railroads allowed travel into the continent. • This started the age of colonialism. • Colonialism is the forced control of one nation by another nation.

  8. Reasons for Colonization • Africa is a continent of vast wealth. • It has many raw materials such as cotton, rubber, ivory, and minerals that are not found in Europe. • South Africa is rich in diamonds and gold. • New industries in Europe needed metals like copper and tin. • The industrial revolution in Europe needed more raw materials.

  9. Reasons for Colonization • Europeans also used Africa as a source of cheap labor. • African countries were new markets for European goods. • They wanted to keep a positive trade balance. • A trade balance is the difference in value between a country’s imports and exports. • The trade balance is favorable when exports are greater than imports.

  10. Suez Canal • Colonizing Africa made it possible to create secure trade routes for European countries. • The Suez Canal was the most important trade route. • It is a man-made water route between Europe and Asia. • The Suez Canal is located in Egypt, and was completed in 1869. • Before its construction, ships had to travel around the continent of Africa. • Both the British and French wanted to control the canal. • Cities and forts on the coast of Africa helped protect trade ships.

  11. European Way • Europeans wanted to change African culture to be more like European culture. • A missionary is a person who goes to a foreign country to spread his or her religion. • Missionaries brought Christianity to Africa. • They also tried to end the slave trade.

  12. Beginnings of New Imperialism • The end of the 19th century is called the age of New Imperialism, which refers to countries competing for land and power. • The growth of European colonies in Africa is called “The Scramble for Africa”.

  13. Great Britain • Great Britain and France fought for control of the region. • The British took control of the Cape Colony from the Dutch in the early 1800’s so that the French could not control it. • The British also controlled some forts in West Africa, which gave them control of the gold and ivory trade. • Britain took control of the Suez Canal and Egypt.

  14. France • France wanted to increase its trade. • It also wanted to spread French culture. By 1848, the French established themselves in northern Algeria, their first colony. • Trade outposts were built in West Africa for the slave trade. • Most of the French-controlled land was desert. • The French also traded palm oil and timber.

  15. Belgium • Belgium was also competing for African land. • King Leopold II purchased the Congo River basin with money from investors. • Belgians did not support the purchase. • The amount of land purchased was bigger than Belgium itself. • The king wanted to make sure that other European countries could not control the region.

  16. Berlin Conference • The Berlin Conference was a series of meetings in Berlin, Germany, held by European nations from 1884 to 1885. • African rulers did not attend. • The European nations discussed Africa’s land and how they wanted it to be divided. • Ten percent of Africa was in European hands going into the meeting. • Europeans owned most of Africa by its end.

More Related