1. The Middle Passage
CHY
Lesson 44

2. The Slave Trade: The Middle Passage
Learning Goal:
Analyze the impact that the slave trade had on the economy of Europe and the Americas.
Discuss how the so-called ‘Middle Passage’ kept truth about slavery from those who may have found it offensive.
1. Map of the Triangle
2. Note and discussion
3. Document analysis (annotated bibliography)

3. The Slave Trade Most African societies had slavery
When Europeans arrived, this practice became more extensive
Europeans were enslaved by Muslims in North Africa
Captured in the Mediterranean by pirates

4. Trans-Atlantic slave trade was the logical extension of existing trade
From , this trade reached its peak
British, French, and Dutch were the prime traders
Until 1710, mostly to the Caribbean but also North America
Britain and the US abolished the slave trade in 1807
This trade required the cooperation of Africans

7. The Middle Passage
The British people were able to turn a blind eye to the way their empire was growing
The majority of slaves were never seen by the those in Britain
Hidden in the ‘middle passage’

8. Abolitionism
By the late 1700s, people began questioning the morality of slavery
In Britain and in the USA
Former slaves like Olaudah Equiano and Frederick Douglass were very vocal and persuasive
Some Christian groups also supported abolition
The British government led an inquiry into the practice
Outlawed it in 1807
Still allowed slavery

9. Britain eliminated slavery in 1833 in all its possession
USA eliminated it after the Civil War (1865)
Brazil was the last American country to have slaves but abolished it in 1888

10. Questions from page 115
How did Western powers obtain a steady supply of slaves from Africa?
What features characterized slave societies in the America?
What caused the institution of slavery to decline?
Why did Europeans feel they needed to import labour from Africa into the Americas
“The trans-Atlantic trade could not have existed without the cooperation of Africans.” Support or refute.
What methods did African male and female slaves use to resist and protest against their enslavements?

11. “Woman and child on auction block,” Digital Public Library of America,

12. Historic Huguenot Street, “1797, Advertisement for the sale of a slave,” New York: Rising Sun, Found at Accessed 24 October 2016

13. https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/324
1173&context=auilr
sciences/themes/slave-route/transatlantic-slave-trade/