1. Chapter 4 Slavery and Empire
Mr. Logan Greene
AP United States History
West Blocton High School

2. Chapter Objectives
Trace the development of the system of slavery, and discuss the way it became entrenched in the Americas.
Describe the effects of the slave trade on both enslaved Africans and on the economic and political life of Africa.
How did slavery in the North differ from slavery in the South?
Describe the process of acculturation involved in becoming an African-American. In what ways did slaves “Africanize” the South?
Explain the connection between the institution of slavery and the building of a commercial empire?
In what ways did colonial policy encourage the growth of racism?

3. Beginning of African Slavery
African slaves first came to the New World to work the Spanish sugar plantations of the Caribbean
At the same time the Portuguese began expanding major sugar production in Brazil
At the same time the Dutch expanded the desire for sugar in Europe adding to demand and cementing the need for the plantations
The slaves originated from areas in Western Africa were communities practiced sophisticated farming techniques and adapted well to plantation life

4. The African Slave Trade
Over the 400 years of the slave trade approximately 10 – 12 million slaves were moved from Africa to the New World
The vast majority of these slaves went to the sugar plantations of the Caribbean or South America (in fact only 1 in 20 went to the British colonies)
Most slaves were young men aged 15 to 30 most suited for fieldwork
Virtually all the countries of Europe participated in the slave trade with African traders

5. Enslavement and the Middle Passage
Slavers routinely caught Africans, split up family and ethnic groups, and then penned them until shipment to the New World
The travel across the Atlantic was known as the Middle Passage in which hundreds of slaves were put into small spaces on slave ships
There was no sanitation and a death rate of 20% was not uncommon and considered acceptable by traders

6. The New World
Many times the cargo of a ship would be sent to a single wealthy planter or slave trader who would then keep the slaves he wished and sell the rest
Other times the group was auctioned off one by one to the highest bidders
In the English colonies the majority of slaves were sent to work the fields of the tobacco plantations in Virginia and the Carolinas

7. The Effect on Africa
As the slave trade increased and European power became global power Africa lost its semblance of independence and power
West Africa especially collapsed both culturally and economically
Many leading West Africans quit independent endeavors such as farming to instead become slave catchers

8. North American Slave Societies
The first African slaves arrived in 1619 but for the first few decades Chesapeake planters still used mostly indentured servants creating an odd situation of a society with some slaves
However, by 1675 the Chesapeake was turning into a truly slave society where the majority of labor was completed by enslaved Africans
As the slave trade increased heavily in the 1700 the English tightened restrictions and rules on slavery setting the stage for an explosion of tobacco plantations

9. Tobacco Colonies
As the 1700’s began the European desire for tobacco increased heavily so the colonies responding by increasing production (up to 25% of the value of all colonial exports)
Tobacco expansion led to a correlative increase in slavery
As well the Tobacco plantations began practicing with slave families and births
By 1730 the slave populations of the Chesapeake were self-sustaining

10. Deep South
As South Carolina grew into a full fledged colony slavery grew immediately
Originally, South Carolina practiced Indian slavery but quickly switched over to African slavery by the 1730s
As opposed to the Chesapeake area with sometimes small tobacco plantations, South Carolina practiced rice cultivation which led to major large scale corporation style plantations with at least 30 slaves

11. Slavery in the North
None of the northern colonies were “slave societies”
However, in some of the commercial farming areas of the middle colonies especially slavery was an accepted form of labor
As well in most of the port cities of the North most of the wealthy families had at least some house servants
However, the Quakers of Pennsylvania were vehement anti-slavery proponents

12. From African to African-Americans
As many Africans arrived in the 1700’s they were met by numerous “country” Africans who had been born in America
These groups intermingled and combined colonial cultural identities with traditional African cultural ideals into what became an “African-American” society
Logically slaves were completely dominated by their work lives and the relationship to this work depended on the size of the plantation, on smaller farms they might work side by side with their owners where as on large farms they might be out of touch with their owners

13. Families and Communities
Slave codes prevent slave marriages and family legal status but the family unit still was maintained as the center of slave culture and life
Planters commonly sold family members to break up families and prevent the possibility of rebellion
Despite this throughout the large plantation areas where families were not broken up so commonly family units began many traditions that built the ideal of the “African-American”

14. Culture
As the 1700s wore on the development of African-American culture
This was due to high birth rates and a continual influx of slaves
African-Americans showed their pension and talent for music, song, and dance while on the plantations
As well, there was even a distinctive African-American language

15. Southern Africanization
As slave culture was more of a part of high levels of Southern society there was more of an infiltration of African ideals into the South
African cooking techniques appeared in Southern food
African women raised high class white children
African-American song and dance could be seen in white styles

16. Resistance and Violence
Overall, the slave system was built on violence, fear, and brutality
Despite the constant mental suffering Africans constantly fought back against their overseers
When caught, those who ran were severely punished to be used as examples
Organized revolts did occur including New York in 1712, Virginia in the 1720s, and Chesapeake in 1730
Also isolated smaller revolts occurred in the deeper South
These revolts were brutally put down

17. Slavery and Empire
Slavery and the products from it greatly improved Great Britain’s economic power
Later the cotton produced by the South jumpstarts the Industrial Revolution by fueling Britain’s cotton mills
Slavery also perpetuated the Triangular Trade from Europe to Africa to America which built the backbone of European commerce for two centuries

19. Mercantilism
European powers believed colonies existed SOLELY to benefit the mother country and created a new system of international economies known as mercantilism
Mercantilism existed to control colonies and make sure maximum amounts of wealth were funneled back to the mother country
Power in countries was rested solely in the amount of gold and silver it acquired

20. Wars for Empires
Numerous colonial wars break out over trade and various issues between the great European powers
All of these wars aimed to deal the decisive blow of mercantilism and dominate world commerce
All of these wars led to continued conflict between France and Britain especially with Spain and the Dutch constantly dragged into the fray

21. British Colonial Regulation
Britain consistently passed regulatory actions to control the colonial economy and keep the bounds of mercantilism as strong as possible
Parliament passed the Navigation Acts between 1651 and 1696, these acts controlled trade and named certain items that could only be shipped to England
As well, England set out strict measures to control colonial business ventures and keep the colonies at a certain level of financial dependence

22. Colonial Economy
Despite the restrictions of the Navigation Acts the colonial economies still flourished
The agricultural producers of the colonies produced great number of crops for sale and profited immensely
The merchant classes sold the items under the Navigation Acts to their maximum profit and also sold whatever goods they could profit on that were not under the Acts
This created a varied and extremely healthy economy

23. Slave Structure
Slavery produced a specific social structure of high class planters at the top, merchants and smaller planters came next, and lastly were the yeoman farmers and free blacks who survived through subsistence farming
At the same time all white colonists shared in being above their black counterparts and laws existed to prevent this from being corrupted
Marriage between races was forbidden; however, mixed race individuals were born and this led to difficult circumstances for all invovled

24. Chapter Objectives
Trace the development of the system of slavery, and discuss the way it became entrenched in the Americas.
Describe the effects of the slave trade on both enslaved Africans and on the economic and political life of Africa.
How did slavery in the North differ from slavery in the South?
Describe the process of acculturation involved in becoming an African-American. In what ways did slaves “Africanize” the South?
Explain the connection between the institution of slavery and the building of a commercial empire?
In what ways did colonial policy encourage the growth of racism?