African Slave Trade Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

Video: Africans in America For Handout Part 1 25:40 to 41:40 or 29:35 – 51:00 Part 2 start to 6:09 Africans in America use start at 28:46 or start at 35:50 to 51:00 Steven Spielberg Video's Middle Passage

Midterm Essay: Describe the African slave trade Midterm Essay: Describe the African slave trade. Be sure to discuss how slavery of Africans differed from earlier forms of slavery, the economic basis, trade routes, numbers, destinations, and the effects of the trade.

What motives led to Europeans to explore the coast of Africa during 1400’s (#3) looking for gold/resources – economic motive looking for sea routes to India Portugal first contact w/ West Africa setup small trading post did not go into interior Christian Missionaries

Causes of the Slave Trade causes/rise (#4 a & b) Colonies in Americas/plantation system and mines make profitable Native Americans did not work as slaves not used to large farming villages disease Escape – limited population

1700’s height of Slave Trade (#3) demand and profits grew African rulers- humans for guns and goods Triangle Trade: responsible for bringing millions of African slaves to the Americas (see handout) – most to Caribbean and South America Middle Passage: slave ship trip across Atlantic (see handout)

The "triangle trade" carried agricultural products from America to Europe, manufactured goods from Europe to Africa, and slaves from Africa to America. As this map shows, though, it more more complicated than a single triangle.

Conditions on board the slave ships were so inhuman that many did not survive the voyage. This famous image shows the way slaves would be chained lying down on benches for perhaps 100 days, unable even to sit up. Unbelievably, this formation was known as "loose pack" as the slaves were lying on their backs. The alternative, "tight pack", which had the slaves lying on their sides, allowed the slaver to fit more slaves onto the ship. However it was eventually abandoned, not for humanitarian reasons but due to the brutal economic calculation that the higher mortality rate of "tight pack" meant that fewer slaves reached the new world alive than with "loose pack".

Effects of Slave Trade (#5) racism used as justification Rise of Planation system in Americas Abolition Movement: movement to end slavery (#2b) African Diaspora: spread of African people and culture throughout the world (#2a) Effects in Africa West Africa: conflict between tribes Loss of population/culture African traditional economies suffered rise of European influence across West Africa One more slide

Eventually Decreased demand for slaves = industrialization raw materials not humans = Imperialism