Slavery Types, History, and Abolition

What is slavery? Slavery (n.): submission to influence dominating influence Don’t know when slavery began, but it was well established before 1000 B.C. Historically slavery has been used for debt holders Criminals Prisoners of war (POWs) Foster care Dominating, 1000BC, debt, war, foster care

Types of Slavery Serfdom Indentured Servitude Popular in Europe during the Middle Ages Contract with a lord Lord offered protection and land Serf offered loyalty and military service Indentured Servitude Most important point: temporary Labor traded in return for Travel Training Room and board Serfdom, lord, land, loyalty, military service, temporary

Types of Slavery Corvee (Kor-vay) Labor Wage Labor unpaid labor that a person with power compels a subject to perform Often used by governments Not an everyday occurrence Wage Labor Mutual agreement between an employer and an employee Worker sells their labor and any products of their labor to the employer for money Unpaid, governments, everyday, agreement, money

Types of Slavery Chattel Slavery What we commonly think of when slavery is mentioned Humans become property Legally owned for their entire lives Receive no personal benefits for their work Violent Can be born into slavery Owners have absolute authority Best example is the millions of Africans taken from their homes and shipped to the Americas, Asia, and Europe beginning in the 16th century Property, benefits, born, Africans, 16th century

The Beginning Slavery, as we think of it today, began in the Caribbean As demand for sugar cane increased, Europeans began flooding the Caribbean and South America to establish plantations Initially, natives were used, but they died quickly due to Hard labor disease Not immune to “common” illnesses: cold, flu, etc. Caribbean, sugar cane, native, disease

The Beginning Growing sugar cane requires a lot of labor As the natives were dying off, European plantation owners needed new workers Slavery was not initially a racial issue Africans were not chosen because they were black, but because they were nearby In 1518, a ship carried the first boatload of African slaves directly from Africa to the Americas Racial, nearby, 1518,

Causes of Slave Labor Convenience Money Greed Demand for Sugar cotton Tobacco Money (notice money was there 3 times) Money, cotton, tobacco, Money

Growth of the Slave Trade Slave trade became part of the Triangular Trade (next slide) In the 16th century, 275,000 slaves were taken from Africa In the 17th century, over 1 million In the 18th century, over 6 million One reason for the high numbers was the high death rate on the journey over The journey from Africa was brutal Called the Middle Passage Chained to the floor No food, water, or sanitation 275000, 1 million, 6 million, death rate, sanitation, Middle Passage

Triangle Trade

Sources of Slaves The first slaves taken were POWs They also were from coastal regions As the demand for slaves went up, African suppliers were forced to move farther inland to find/capture slaves Slave selling became a main source of income for many Africans. This caused Raiding of villages Falsifying records Tribal wars All of this was done to make MONEY! POWs, villages, records, wars,

Effects of the Slave Trade Created victims Broken families Depopulating of regions Deprived communities of their strongest people Increased warfare Social debates Necessity Necessary Evil Evil Began seeing the beginnings of abolitionism Victims, strongest people, warfare, abolitionism,

Abolitionism A political and social movement aimed at ending the slave trade Religious groups led the way (Quakers) Began appearing after reports on the conditions and horrors of the Middle Passage popped up By the 1700s, many countries in Europe and Asia had seen a disappearance of slavery in their societies However, legall slavery and the slave trade was still allowed and accepted Political, social, Quakers, 1700s, legally,

Abolition in France Slave trade was abolished in 1794 Slave owners were to be financially compensated In 1802, Napoleon decided to re-establish slavery in order to Keep POWs captive Help in military crusades After a lot of fighting and rebellions, slavery was re-abolished in 1848 Today, France considers slavery and slave trading a crime against humanity 1794, 1848, crime against humanity,

Abolition in the U.S. Abolishment in all northern states by 1804 Slow progress – lots of “permanent apprentices” Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863…this did not end slavery It was not a law It only freed slaves living in the states that had seceded from the Union Technically, Lincoln had no legal right to do that since these states were no longer part of the U.S. Slavery was officially (and legally) abolished with the passing of the 13th amendment in 1865 1804, law, power, 1865

Abolition in Britain Most abolitionists had both witnessed the cruelty of slavery and were Quakers Because of their religion, Quakers were not allowed to hold power in Parliament The leaders of the abolition movement needed a voice in the government…they recruited William Wilberforce Abolitionists tried to persuade the public by Passing out pamphlets Petitions Autobiographies Olaudah Equiano (ex-slave, prominent abolitionist) Parliament, Autobiographies,

Abolition in Britain Using these “grassroots” tactics, the abolition movement became very powerful In 1807, Parliament passed The Slave Trade Act which outlawed the slave trade in Britain, which fined ships for having slaves aboard Sailors would throw slaves overboard Slaves were kept but not sold Other loopholes Finally in 1833, the Slavery Abolition Act was passed and all slaves were emancipated in Britain and its colonies 1807, kept, sold, 1833,

“Amazing Grace” The famous Christian hymn Amazing Grace was written by a British man during the time of the abolitionist movement It also happens to be the name of the movie we will be watching for the next two days. 