The Transatlantic Slave Trade and Colonial Slavery American History I

3 Distinct Features of American Slavery: Slaves not accepted into society & had no legal rights Slave status inherent and passed on to children Mostly unskilled, manual laborers

The Transatlantic Slave Trade Portuguese controlled trade in 1500s, Dutch in 1600s, English in 1700s million slaves crossed the Atlantic 3.65 million to S. America 3.32 million to Caribbean 1.5 million to Mexico & Central America 600,000 to N. America More men than women

A Typical Slave Ship Dimensions: 80’ – 90’ by 25’ Held 300 – 450 slaves Voyage lasted 90 – 100 days 10 – 20% average mortality rate Outlawed by Great Britain in 1808 due to efforts of William Wilberforce

The Switch to Slavery Reasons for switch: After 1680, most tidewater land gone, so indentured servants go elsewhere Bacon’s Rebellion (1675) scared planters off indentured servants Chattel slavery unknown in England – used Spanish model Initially more expensive, but cheaper in the long run Ratio of slave to servant prices fell steadily from 2.88 in 1674 to 1.83 by 1681 Slave importation peaked in 1740, then declined as natural increase took over

Slavery Introduced Gradually 300 in 1650; 3,000 by 1680 In 1704 there were 10,000 blacks & 75,000 whites African Americans made up 40% of Southern population by 1770 (over 400,000)

South Carolina – Barbados Connection Carolina was offshoot of Barbados colony Sugar plantations had been using African slaves for decades Adopted immediately in Carolina Blacks quickly outnumbered whites 20,000 blacks to 10,000 whites in 1729 Stono Rebellion (1740) made South Carolinians paranoid