The African Diaspora By: Keirra Porter

The slave trade was how Africa and the Americas linked. Introduction The slave trade was how Africa and the Americas linked. Slave trade was the principal way African societies were drawn into the world economy. Imported into Africa: European firearms Indian textiles Indonesian cowrie shells American tobacco Africa traded gold, ivory, and especially slaves in return

Slave Lives What Slavery Meant To Slaves: Deadly Conditions: destruction of their villages or capture in war separation from family & friends forced march to interior trading town or slave pens at coast Deadly Conditions: 1/3 of slaves died along the way or in slave pens cargo sizes on ships could go as high as 700 slaves unsanitary Avg. mortality rate- 18% until 18th cent. Losses were catastrophic such as Dutch ship in 1737 where 700 of 716 slaves died

Middle Passage did not strip them of their culture Slave Lives (cont.) The Middle Passage: taken from homes branded confined shackled The Africans faced dangers of poor hygiene, dysentery, disease, and bad treatment (beaten or worse) Middle Passage did not strip them of their culture arrived in Americas retaining their languages, beliefs, artistic traditions, & memories

Africans in the Americas Slaves carried across Atlantic, then brought to plantations and mines used large amnts. of labor – forced after failed attempts to use Native Americans as laborers, Africans brought in West Africans were sought by Europeans for the specialized tasks of making sugar slaves did many other things, such as… Mining Artisians Street vendors Household work Most slaves, though, were agricultural laborers.

American Slave Societies Social Hierarchy Europeans Creoles Mulattos (African & European) Mestizos (Native American & European) African & Native American slaves Among slaves, slaveholders also created a hierarchy based on origin and color. Creole and mulatto slaves given more opportunities Skilled jobs House servants More likely to win their freedom by manumission

The End of the Slave Trade The end of the Atlantic slave trade and the abolition of slavery in the Atlantic world resulted from economic, political, and religious changes in Europe. African societies began exporting other commodities depended less on slave trade Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Adam Smith both wrote against slavery. Slave trade criticized The symbol of slavery’s inhumanity & cruelty

The End of the Slave Trade (cont.) England was the key to the end of the slave trade. British slave trade abolished in 1807 Britain tried to impose abolition of the slave trade on other countries throughout the Atlantic. Spain & Portugal pressured to gradually suppress trade British navy used to enforce agreements by capturing illegal slave ships Full end of slavery in Americas occurred in 1888, when it was abolished in Brazil.