1. The Atlantic Slave Trade And the Middle Passage

2. GREAT CIRCUIT EUROPE AFRICAAMERICAS Middle Passage Mfr. goods Raw Materials Knives, Swords, Guns, Cloth, Rum Sugar, Molasses, Cotton, Tobacco Enslaved Peoples 1 2 3

3. Facts about the Atlantic Slave Trade Africa is a continent and not a country. Not 1 unified people, but many rivals. European technology (until the mid 19 th century) was not strong enough to gain more than a few isolated parts of the coast, and not the interior.

4. Why was there an Atlantic Slave Trade? The slave trade was partially under control by Africans themselves. Most slaves were the victims of war.

5. Why was there an Atlantic Slave Trade: Since Africans practiced slavery, Europeans showed up and offered to trade in humans, they had no problem with it.

6. Why was there an Atlantic Slave Trade: Since many Native Americans died due to European diseases, settlers in the New World colonies needed labor to work the large plantations (West Indies/southern N. America) and encomiendas (S. America).

7. Why was there an Atlantic Slave Trade: It was THE VIEW OF THE TIME that Africans were better able to work in tropical climates, were resistant to European diseases, would be less likely than Native Americans to run away, and were not as intelligent as Europeans.

8. Slavery in Africa vs. Slavery in America In Africa: -Slaves were victims of war or debt. -Slaves had basic rights. (buy your freedom, to marry, keep your family together) -Slavery lasted 1 generation. (If a master and slave had a child, the child became an heir.)

9. Slavery in Africa vs. Slavery in America In America: -Slaves were victims of race. -Slaves were denied basic human rights (such as buying freedom, marrying, keeping your family together) -Slavery was cross-generational. (If a master and a slave had a child, the child was a slave.)

10. Key Event: 1636 Barbados Slave Codes Laws specifically crafted to state that slavery was a permanent thing for all Africans on that Island. Later adopted in total or part by many other English colonies. Shows the transfer of slavery as an economic practice to a racial practice.

11. The Slave Trade – 3 parts 1. The Interior. Individuals kidnapped or prisoners of war in West Africa and marched to the shore. 2. The Middle Passage. Crammed into slave ships and sent across the Atlantic. The middle leg of the Triangular Trade routes

12. 3. The Caribbean. Sold at auction and sent to final destination. (Most in South America.)

14. Uncertainties #s: Traders, especially after the British banned the slave trade in 1804, didn’t keep good records. Best estimates are 8- 11 million people. Death Rates. Most suggest 20% died in voyage. Severity of Lives. (greatly depended on location, owner, work.) Source: Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1680, by John Thornton

16. Reactions of Africans to European Exploration