The Middle Passage CHY Lesson 44

The Slave Trade: The Middle Passage Learning Goal: Analyze the impact that the slave trade had on the economy of Europe and the Americas. Discuss how the so-called ‘Middle Passage’ kept truth about slavery from those who may have found it offensive. 1. Map of the Triangle 2. Note and discussion 3. Document analysis (annotated bibliography)

The Slave Trade Most African societies had slavery When Europeans arrived, this practice became more extensive Europeans were enslaved by Muslims in North Africa Captured in the Mediterranean by pirates

Trans-Atlantic slave trade was the logical extension of existing trade From 1650-1807, this trade reached its peak British, French, and Dutch were the prime traders Until 1710, mostly to the Caribbean but also North America Britain and the US abolished the slave trade in 1807 This trade required the cooperation of Africans

The Middle Passage The British people were able to turn a blind eye to the way their empire was growing The majority of slaves were never seen by the those in Britain Hidden in the ‘middle passage’

Abolitionism By the late 1700s, people began questioning the morality of slavery In Britain and in the USA Former slaves like Olaudah Equiano and Frederick Douglass were very vocal and persuasive Some Christian groups also supported abolition The British government led an inquiry into the practice Outlawed it in 1807 Still allowed slavery

Britain eliminated slavery in 1833 in all its possession USA eliminated it after the Civil War (1865) Brazil was the last American country to have slaves but abolished it in 1888

Questions from page 115 How did Western powers obtain a steady supply of slaves from Africa? What features characterized slave societies in the America? What caused the institution of slavery to decline? Why did Europeans feel they needed to import labour from Africa into the Americas “The trans-Atlantic trade could not have existed without the cooperation of Africans.” Support or refute. What methods did African male and female slaves use to resist and protest against their enslavements?

“Woman and child on auction block,” Digital Public Library of America, http://dp.la/item/01e0da0893e9f0831e3951dbe2d099ff.

Historic Huguenot Street, “1797, Advertisement for the sale of a slave,” New York: Rising Sun, 1797. Found at http://www.hrvh.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/hhs/id/558. Accessed 24 October 2016

https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/324 http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article= 1173&context=auilr http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p277.html http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human- sciences/themes/slave-route/transatlantic-slave-trade/