1. AP European History Mr. Meester 523-532
Atlantic Slave Trade
AP European History
Mr. Meester

2. The Plantation System
The basic unit of colonial North & South America was a self-sufficient farming estate.
Most were granted as royal charters.
Spanish charters included the right of encomiendas.
The right to demand labor for Natives.
Death rate in Peruvian mines as high as 90%
Due to the need for increased labor supplies, the slave trade began during the 1500s.
Plantation economies based on slave labor had a huge impact on social & economic history

3. Brazil, The Indies, & Sugar
In Brazil & West Indies far more slaves were imported than in North America
Slaves outnumbered white colonists
Slavery expanded greatly during the 1700s in regions that grew sugar and other cash crops
It is estimated that over 9 million Africans were transported to the New World.
Due to the high mortality rates in the colonies, there was a constant need for more slaves from Africa.
Big social impact

4. Slave Trade Leading Slave Trading Nations by century
Portuguese & Spanish, then the Dutch, then English
The Triangle of Trade
Europe-Africa-Americas
Most African slaves were sold to Europeans by African
Passage to the New World was devastating.
Many ships lost over 40% of their slaves in passage
Cheaper than trying to raise slave children to adulthood.

5. Slave Treatment
Native Languages and Culture impacted life on the plantation
Individual treatment differed
Portuguese treated their slaves the worst
In Spanish colonies the Church protected the slaves somewhat but spent more effort in protecting the Native Indians.
British and French colonies provided some protection but was rarely enforced.
Laws passed to maintain order
fear of a slave revolt
laws favored the masters over the slaves in all situations.

6. Emancipation Movement
The abolitionist movement began in Britain and France during the Enlightenment.
Abolished in the French colonies in
Britain abolished slave trading in 1807.
The Latin American wars for independence during the early 1800s brought an end to slavery in many countries.
Began in Haiti with a revolution against France lead by Toussaint L’Ouverture
Series of revolution throughout South and Central America
American “Emancipation Proclamation” of 1863.