African Slave Trade

Background- fill in the blanks I. African slavery A. Background 1. It had existed for a long time 2. African and Muslim traders had sold slaves B. Differences between slavery in Africa and in the Americas 1. Slaves have some rights 2. Slaves have some opportunity for social advancement 3. Slaves’ children do not automatically become slaves

Background- fill in the blanks II. Slavery Expands to the Americas A. Why Europeans Prefer African slaves over Native American slaves 1. They are more immune to European diseases 2. They are more experienced in farming and thus can work plantations 3. They are not familiar with the Americas, and therefore can’t easily escape

Background- fill in the blanks B. The Slave Trade 1. Many African rulers and merchants cooperate and sell Africans in exchange for gold and weapons. 2. Europeans pick up captured Africans at the ports and deliver them to the Americas by boat 3. Over 20 million slaves are taken to the Americas through this “middle passage.” 4. Most go to Brazil, the fewest go to North America

Station A From The Life of Olaudah Equiano “At last, when the ship we were in, had got in all her cargo, they made ready with many fearful noises, and we were all put under deck, so that we could not see how they managed the vessel. But this disappointment was the least of my sorrow. The stench of the hold while we were on the coast was so intolerably loathsome, that it was dangerous to remain there for any time…but now that the whole ship’s cargo were confined together, it became absolutely pestilential. The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us. This produced copious perspirations, so that the air soon became unfit for respiration, from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness among the slaves, of which many died – thus falling victims to the improvident avarice, as I may call it, of their purchasers. This wretched situation was again aggravated by the galling of the chains…and the filth of the necessary tubs, into which the children often fell, and were almost suffocated. The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying, rendered the whole a scene of horror almost inconceivable.”

Station B

Station C Image #1 **Read the article on the Next slide!! Historical Documents Slave Caravans on the Road 1888 **Read the article on the Next slide!!

Station C Image #1 text In 1888, Harpers requested that Henry M. Stanley's Through a Dark Continent be adapted for young readers. On Stanley's recommendation, Thomas Wallace Knox was selected to write the book, which would be entitled, The Boy Travellers on the Congo. The illustrations used in Knox's book came from several volumes on African travels, including the book it was based on. Slave Caravans on the Road accompanies text describing Arab involvment with the slave trade and the town of Mombasa, a port on Africa's east coast. The book tells how Arabs made war with natives and enslaved captives, as well as inciting war between various tribes in order to purchase, as slaves, the prisoners of those wars.

Station C Image #2 Historical Documents The Slave Deck of the Bark "Wildfire" 1860 **Read the text on the Following slide!

Station C Image #2 The importation of slaves had been prohibited in the United States since [1808], and yet, the trade continued illegally on a smaller scale for many years -- even up to the outbreak of the Civil War. Published in the June 2, 1860 issue of Harper's Weekly, The Slave Deck of the Bark "Wildfire" illustrated how Africans travelled on the upper deck of the ship. On board the ship were 510 captives, recently acquired from an area of Africa near the Congo River. The author of the article reported seeing, upon boarding the ship, "about four hundred and fifty native Africans, in a state of entire nudity, in a sitting or squatting posture, the most of them having their knees elevated so as to form a resting place for their heads and arms."

Station C Image #3 Historical Documents Living Africans Thrown Overboard **Read the text on the Following slide!!!

Station C Image #3 Heading for Jamaica in 1781, the ship Zong was nearing the end of its voyage. It had been twelve weeks since it had sailed from the west African coast with its cargo of 417 slaves. Water was running out. Then, compounding the problem, there was an outbreak of disease. The ship's captain, reasoning that the slaves were going to die anyway, made a decision. In order to reduce the owner's losses he would throw overboard the slaves thought to be too sick to recover. The voyage was insured, but the insurance would not pay for sick slaves or even those killed by illness. However, it would cover slaves lost through drowning. The captain gave the order; 54 Africans were chained together, then thrown overboard. Another 78 were drowned over the next two days. By the time the ship had reached the Caribbean,132 persons had been murdered.