The Slave Trade and Triangle Trade

Background Slavery existed in Europe during the Classical age, but was replaced by feudalism Serfdom had mostly died out after the plague Europeans had been used as slaves in ancient Middle Eastern empires Africa had an internal slave trade of prisoners of war, similar to ancient Europe

Beginning the Trade The Portuguese traded slaves for guns with West African leaders As Europeans gained more colonies, their dependence on slavery increased France, Britain, the Netherlands, and Spain all joined the slave trade

Differences The African slave trade usually allowed slaves to earn their freedom They were mostly prisoners of war or kidnapped during raids on opposing tribes The European view of slaves were as a piece of property Slaves were a commercial investment to trade for profit

Why African Slaves? Business owners claimed paying wages would make the new industries unprofitable The native population in the Americas was nearly wiped out by small pox The Pope forbade taking Christians as slaves Some held racist beliefs that non-whites were not human The work was difficult and not enough Europeans volunteered for indentured servitude

Conflict Eventually, the African kingdoms ran out of slaves European slave traders would kidnap Africans during the night and force them into slavery Eventually, the wealthy and powerful in Africa were also forced into slavery About 11 million people were forcibly removed from the African continent during the slave trade

Triangle Trade European traders brought manufactured goods, guns, and alcohol to Africa to trade for slaves The slaves traveled along the “middle passage” to the New World Slave traders would sell the slaves or trade for alcohol (rum) and bring raw materials (sugar, tobacco, cotton, and iron) back to Europe to be turned into manufactured goods

Triangle Trade

Why Rum? Water spoiled on the long trips Alcohol does not spoil Wine, brandy, and rum were valuable and used as a currency Rum was used to buy slaves and “pay” slaves for good behavior Rum was made with a byproduct of the sugar industry, therefore required little effort to package and sell for extra profit

The Middle Passage Slaves chained together (men chained together then entire trip), each getting a space about 4 square feet Forced to lay down most the day with two force-fed meals and limited daily access to the upper deck There was no access to toilets At least 2 million died during the trip (10-15%) Most were malnourished or diseased by the end of the trip Suicide attempts, self-mutilation, and hunger strikes were common Around 1 in 10 ships had slave uprisings, resulting in more deaths and mutilations