1. Introduction to Slavery in America

2. Slavery Introduced to the Colonies Tribal warfare in Africa Africans kidnapped forced into slavery either by other tribes or by European slave traders Very profitable Slaves brought to the Americas via “the Middle Passage” The Triangular Trade

4. West Coast of Africa

5. Conditions of Slave Ships

6. Slaves in America Slaves worked mainly on southern plantations First in tobacco fields Then, “cotton becomes king” Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin – separate seeds from cotton quickly – made it very profitable

7. Slave Trade Banned In the early 1800s, the international slave trade was banned by many countries US banned the importation of slaves in 1808 However, the international slave trade continued Driven by profit

8. Slavery Grows in the South

9. Abolitionist Movement Many religious groups in Western Europe and in the United States started to question the morality of slavery Many different ways of fighting slavery Tried to change state and federal laws Creation of the Underground Railroad Lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of slavery As westward expansion continued, the debate over the future of slavery grew

10. Underground Railroad

11. Growing Pains Westward Expansion = the debate over slavery heats up Power struggle = free states vs. slave states Admit one free state for every slave state Missouri Compromise = Southern boundary of Missouri would be the dividing line 1 st of many compromises that would try and hold the US together

12. United States in 1820

13. The Amistad Case

14. Facts of the Case Dealt with a slave uprising on the slave trading ship: La Amistad End up off the coast of New England Brought in by the US Coast Guard What do we do with these “slaves”? Are they really slaves born into slavery in the Americas? Or are they free persons from Africa who were sold into slavery?

15. Main Characters Djimon Hounsou = Cinque Morgan Freeman = Theodore Joadson (abolitionist) Anthony Hopkins = Pres. John Q. Adams Matthew McConaughey = Roger Baldwin (attorney)