The Atlantic Slave Trade Unit Objective: To learn how the Triangle Trade operated and the impact it had

What impact do you suppose European expansion had on the slave trade?

GREATLY INCREASED THE DEMAND FOR IT

Why?

THERE WAS A LABOR SHORTAGE IN THE AMERICAS

Europeans had to use slave labor because there weren’t enough Europeans to do the work themselves Why did the Europeans have to import slaves from Africa rather than relying on Native American slaves?

NATIVE AMERICANS DIED FROM DISEASE Africans didn’t because they had been exposed to European diseases for years and had immunities 10 million Africans were brought to the New World as a result of the slave trade (also known and the Triangle Trade)

What was the Triangle Trade?

THE TRADE ROUTE FROM EUROPE (MANUFACTURED GOODS) TO AFRICA (SLAVES) TO THE AMERICAS (SUGAR, MOLASSES, OTHER NATURAL RESOURCES)

What was the Middle Passage?

THE HARSH JOURNEY ACROSS THE ATLANTIC

Slave Trade Facts Slaveholders rarely encouraged slaves to have children because it cost them less to buy new slaves than to raise children At the beginning of the slave trade, most African slaves came from the coasts or were prisoners of war; As demand for slaves grew, slaveholders went deeper into the interior of Africa to capture slaves

Why did some Africans help Europeans enslave other Africans?

SELF PRESERVATION PROFIT

Slavery was acceptable in Europe because it had been around forever and Africans were seen as inferior Social Darwinism:

Social Darwinism: SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST IN SOCIETY It was used to justify the mistreatment of peoples seen as inferior

That attitude finally started to change when several organization developed in Europe that argued slavery was wrong Eventually nations started to outlaw slavery Which nation was the last to outlaw slavery? AMERICA

Could the Europeans have prospered in the New World without slave labor? How?