Transatlantic Slave Trade Canadian History 11

What is Slavery? A slave is someone who is owned by another person. A slave has: No choice No freedom No money

What is Slavery? A slave has to do what is asked of him by his master, usually this is work of some kind. Slaves are punished for not following their master's orders, working too slowly, or attempting to runaway. When we think of slavery today we think of the black Africans who were captured, sold into slavery and taken to the Americas to work on the plantations there.

History of Slavery Evidence suggests slavery has existed throughout recorded history: Laws regarding the ownership and treatment of slaves in outlined in the Code of Hammurabi – the written law of ancient Babylon Both the leading states of Greece - Sparta and Athens - depend entirely upon forced labour from miners to domestic servants to clerical work and banking People were used in ancient Egypt as slaves to build the pyramids

History of Slavery Evidence suggests slavery has existed throughout recorded history: Romans and also ancient Britons used slaves to labour for free as well – the most privileged slaves were the secretarial staff of the emperor – majority were whipped into submission in the mines, worked the fields in chain gangs, or forced into combat as gladiators During the eastward expansion of the Germans in the 10th century so many Slavs are captured that their racial name becomes the generic term for a 'slave‘ Slavery is an accepted part of life in Arabia during the time of Muhammad, in the 7th century, and the Qur'an offers no arguments against the practice - it merely states, particularly in relation to female slaves, that they must be well treated During the early Middle Ages the missionaries and bishops of the Roman Catholic church argue against the ownership of slaves in the emerging dynasties of northern Europe

Why did slaves come from Africa? A new and disastrous chapter in the story of slavery begins with the arrival of the Portuguese in west Africa in the 15th century

Why did slaves come from Africa? Africa today is thought of as a poor, very underdeveloped continent Some even mistake Africa as one country During the 16th and 17th centuries: Europeans first began exploring the world Africa was a rich land, eager to trade gold, copper, ivory and leather goods for the white’s pots, pans, alcohol and guns.

Why did slaves come from Africa? Under African law, slavery was a punishment for serious crimes, but most of these slaves were slaves of other black Africans. It was not usual for slaves to be traded at this time. In 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas. Other Europeans followed and made slaves of the Native peoples living there. Europeans brought Western diseases to the Americas and their Aboriginal slaves began dying. Another source of slaves had to be found. 

Why did slaves come from Africa? From trading with the Africans, Europeans knew that slavery was used as a punishment in Africa. They began to ask for slaves, rather than African goods, in exchange for the guns and alcohol that the African chiefs wanted. The African chiefs agreed and so the Triangular Trade was developed.

Effects of Slavery on Africa Although the concept was not new, slaves were not mistreated badly by their masters in Africa This was not the case once trading in slaves became 'big business‘ From about 1510, Europeans had begun capturing slaves and taking them to work in the Americas their weapons were much more powerful than the Africans' traditional spears and shields. 

Effects of Slavery on Africa Europeans exchanged guns for slaves and African chiefs, began inventing new crimes for which the punishment was slavery.   Coastal Africans were using guns to raid inland villages for the slaves that the Europeans wanted. Slaves were chained together and marched to the coast. takes many days or weeks slaves who showed any sign of resistance to the traders, were whipped too weak or sickly to complete the journey at the required pace were left to die.

Triangular Trade

Triangular Trade This was the name given to the trading route used by European merchants who exchanged goods with Africans for slaves, shipped the slaves to the Americas, sold them and brought goods from the Americas back to Europe.

Triangular Trade The first leg was the journey from Europe to Africa where goods were exchanged for slaves The second, or middle, leg of the journey was the transportation of slaves to the Americas. It was nicknamed the 'middle passage’ The third and final leg of the journey, was the transport of goods from the Americas back to Europe

Triangular Trade

The Slave Ship The African slaves were viewed as cargo by the merchants and were packed into the ships with no regard to their basic human rights Slave ships could be either 'tight pack' or 'loose pack‘ A 'tight pack' could hold many more slaves than the 'loose pack' because the amount of space allocated to each slave was considerably less, but more slaves would die on route to the Americas

The Slave Ship

The Slave Ship

The Slave Ship Many slaves became seasick or developed diarrhoea. Unable to move because they were chained into their positions, the slave's deck became a stinking mass of human waste. Slaves who had developed sores where their chains had rubbed their skin, had festering wounds often with maggots eating away their flesh. Conditions on the slave ships were so bad that many slaves decided they would prefer to die and tried to starve themselves by refusing to eat or by jumping overboard. Slaves that would not eat were whipped or force fed and the traders and ship owners began fixing nets to the sides of the boat so that the slaves could not jump overboard.

The Slave Ship Sick and dying slaves were thrown overboard to prevent the spread of illness Over one million Africans did not survive the trip across the Middle Passage

Trans-Atlantic Exports by Region: 1650-1900 Region Number of slaves % Senegambia 479,900  4.7 Upper Guinea 411,200  4.0 Windward Coast 183,200  1.8 Gold Coast 1,035,600  10.1 Blight of Benin 2,016,200  19.7 Blight of Biafra 1,463,700  14.3 West Central 4,179,500  40.8 South East 470,900  4.6  Total 10,240,200  100.0  Data derived from tables 1.1, 3.2, 3.4, 4.1 and 7.4 as presented in: Transformations in Slavery by Paul E. Lovejoy Cambridge University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-521-78430-1

Slavery is a Modern Issue Slavery is not simply a thing of the past. In 1999, the International Labour Conference condemned the government of Myanmar (Burma) for their “widespread use of forced labour” Throughout our modern world, women and young girls are forced into prostitution, while both children and adults work in near slavery conditions in sweat shops producing goods for the western world.