The Atlantic Slave Trade 1450-1865

Introduction The Atlantic Slave Trade was the most significant link Africa had to the larger Atlantic World in early modern times. African peoples received European goods for slaves. Firearms were the most common.

Europeans By the 15th and 16thc when the Europeans ventured to Africa, the slave trade was well-established. European influence caused it to expand dramatically. Affected the development of Atlantic settlements.

The Early Slave Trade Earliest European slave traders were Portuguese. They learned that they could buy slaves instead of capturing them. Increased the numbers of slaves they brought home.

Sao Tome Cape Verde When the Portuguese discovered the Azores, Madeiras, Cape Verde Islands, and Sao Tome in the 15th Century they were all uninhabited The Portuguese population was too small to provide a large number of colonists The sugar plantations required a large labor force Slaves filled this demand

Slavery Expands Meanwhile, disease had reduced the native populations in Spanish territories. Spanish looked for laborers for the Caribbean and the Americas. In 1518, the first shipment of slaves went directly from west Africa to the Caribbean where the slaves worked on sugar plantations.

Slavery Expands Continued By the 1520s, the Spanish had introduced slaves to Mexico, Peru, and Central America where they worked as cultivators and miners By the early 17th Century, the British had introduced slaves to North America

Typical Triangular Trade Route

Triangular Trade European goods (cloth ,metal wares, and firearms) went to Africa and were exchanged for slaves. Slaves were then shipped to the Caribbean and Americas where they were sold for cash or sometimes bartered for sugar or molasses. Then the ships returned to Europe loaded with American products.

“Molasses to rum to slaves Who sail the ships back to Boston Ladened with gold, see it gleam Whose fortunes are made in the triangle trade Hail slavery, the New England dream!” Song from the play 1776

Capture The capture of slaves was violent. As European demand grew, African chieftains raided neighboring societies. Others launched wars to capture slaves.

The Middle Passage Slaves were force-marched to holding pens before being loaded on ships The trans-Atlantic journey was called the “Middle Passage” The ships were filthy, hot, and crowded

The Middle Passage

The Middle Passage Continued Most ships provided slaves with enough room to sit upright, but not enough to stand Others forced slaves to lie in chains with barely 20 inches space between them

The Middle Passage Continued Men were “housed” on the right; women on the left; children in the middle. The human Cargo was jammed onto platforms six feet wide often without sufficient headroom for an adult to sit up.

The Middle Passage Continued

The Middle Passage Continued Crews attempted to keep as many slaves alive as possible to maximize profits, but treatment was extremely cruel Some slaves refused to eat and crew members used tools to pry open their mouths and force-feed them

The Middle Passage Continued People were thrown overboard due to shortages in supplies or an outbreak of disease. Cargo (human beings) was often insured so that there was no financial loss.

Daily "dancing" was enforced on many slave ships as a form of exercise Daily "dancing" was enforced on many slave ships as a form of exercise. People were made to hop in place in their shackles and exercise by swinging their arms. The crew walked among them with whips or cat-o'-nine-tails to compel the forced recreation.

Slaves Left to Die Often people that were unhealthy or sick were left behind.

Arrival When the slave ship docked, the slaves would be placed in a pen. They would be washed and covered with grease or tar to make them look healthy. They would also be branded with a hot iron to identify them as slaves.

Auctions Slaves were sold at auctions Buyers physically inspected the slaves Auctioneers had slaves perform various acts to demonstrate their physical abilities

Auctions

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Auctions “We were not many days in the merchant’s custody, before we were sold after their usual manner... On a signal given, (as the beat of a drum), buyers rush at once into the yard where the slaves are confined, and make a choice of that parcel they like best. The noise and clamor with which this is attended, and the eagerness visible in the countenances of the buyers, serve not a little to increase the apprehension of terrified Africans... In this manner, without scruple, are relations and friends separated, most of them never to see each other again. I remember in the vessel in which I was brought over... there were several brothers who, in the sale, were sold in different lots; and it was very moving on this occasion, to see and hear their cries in parting.” Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano

Plantations Most African slaves went to the Caribbean or South America. Plantations produced crops like sugar, tobacco, indigo, and cotton. Crops were exported for profit.

Caribbean and South America Disease, brutal working conditions, and poor sanitation and nutrition resulted in high mortality rates. Owners imported mainly male slaves and allowed few to establish families which resulted in low reproduction.

Between 1501 and the 1860s, at least twelve million African men, women, and children were transported in the transatlantic slave trade. Among them were farmers, fishermen, cattle herders, craftspeople, notables, scholars, slaves, musicians, as well as political and religious leaders.

North America Diseases took less of a toll in North America and living conditions were usually less brutal Plantation owners imported large numbers of female slaves and encouraged their slaves to form families and bear children

Forms of Resistance Work slowly Sabotage Runaway Revolt

Slavery Continues Abolishing the slave trade did not end slavery British ships patrolled the west coast of Africa to halt illegal trade The last documented ship that carried slaves across the Atlantic arrived in Cuba in 1867

Impact of Slave Trade in Africa Some states like Rwanda largely escaped the slave trade through resistance and geography Some like Senegal in west Africa were hit very hard Other societies benefited economically from selling slaves, trading, or operating ports

Impact of Slave Trade in Africa As abolition took root in the 19th Century some African merchants even complained about the lose of their livelihood On the whole, however, the slave trade devastated Africa

Impact of Slave Trade in Africa It deprived Africa of a huge fraction of their population. It distorted African sex ratios because ~ 2/3 of slaves were male. The introduction of firearms increased the level of violence

Africans and Canada From 1782 – 1785, about 3500 Black Loyalists fled to NS & NB. They had been promised freedom and “a new life.” Once in the Maritimes, they were cheated of land, forced to work on public projects, such as road building, and denied equal status.

1792 - Exodus to Africa: 1,190 men, women and children left Halifax on 15 ships for the long voyage to Sierra Leone. Sixty-five died en route.

In 1796, Nearly 600 Maroons, exiled from Jamaica, arrived in the Maritimes. They did some of the original work on the Citadel. They left for Sierra Leone in 1800.

1813-15 - Roughly 2,000 U.S. Blacks, refugees from the War of 1812, settled in the Maritimes. 1833 - Slavery officially abolished in the British Empire. 1920s - Hundreds of Caribbean immigrants, called the "later arrivals," flocked to Cape Breton to work in coal mines and the steel factory.