Africa in theAtlantic System

Africa in the Atlantic SystemWest African Societies circa 1500

The slaves that ended up in America came largely from West Africa

Civilization well advanced in some parts of Africa before European contact

West Africa had seen two major empires in the centuries before the arrival of the Portuguese in the 15th century (Ghana and Mali)

Kingdom of the Songhai in existence then and it would last until the 16th century

Still, most West Africans at this time lived in small villages where the primary allegiance was to the village, clan, and tribe (in that order)

Africa in the Atlantic SystemSlavery in Africa

Slavery existed for centuries in Africa before European contact

Slaves in Africa were usually war captives, criminals, or debtors

Slaves in Africa not seen as inherently inferior

Slaves in Africa generally enjoyed legal protections

Could be educated and legally marry Children did not inherit their parent’s

slave status African slaveholders owned the

slave’s labor, not their person Traditionally, some slaves always

had been exported, such as across the Sahara to North Africa

Hence, Europeans tapped into an already existing market for slaves

A coffle of slaves on the march

Africa in the Atlantic SystemThe Atlantic Plantation Complex

The Atlantic Plantation complex began in the 15th century as Iberian peoples colonized tropical or semi-tropical islands in the Atlantic, such as the Canaries, Madeira, and the Azores

The Spanish and Portuguese introduced the cultivation of sugar cane and imported African slaves to work the sugar plantations

Later as the Spanish moved into the Caribbean and the Portuguese into Brazil, they brought African slaves to work the sugar plantations there

As the Dutch, French, and English moved into the Caribbean they adopted the plantation system pioneered by the Iberians

Africa in the Atlantic SystemGathering the Slaves

The unfortunate Africans who ended up as slaves in the New World got there as a result of the initiative of other Africans

African tribes traditionally had raided the villages of their enemies and carried off captives to sell as slaves

But the growing demand for slaves encouraged raiding and war for the specific purpose of obtaining slaves to sell to the Europeans

Hence, with the permission of local leaders, Europeans established forts on the African coast to wait for African slave traders to bring captives for sale

The fortifications were mostly there for protection against rival European traders

Africa in the Atlantic SystemThe Middle Passage

Slaves were sold to European traders for rum, gold, and manufactured goods They had typically already spent weeks or even months in a forced march from

the interior, where had been enslaved, to the coast. They could spend a day or less, or sometimes a year or more in chains at the

slave fort on the coast waiting for transportion across the Atlantic The slaves generally were tightly packed below decks on the slave ships, during

their voyage across what was called the “Middle Passage” The journey typically last 4-8 weeks, and 1 out of 7 slaves died enroute

The Triangular Trade

Africa in the Atlantic SystemSlavery in the Caribbean

A major destination for kidnapped Africans, slavery in the Caribbean was noted for its brutality

In part, it was simply the hard work entailed in growing sugar cane

For most of the time plantation slavery existed in the region sugar was so profitable, it made more sense economically to work slaves to death and replace them with fresh workers from Africa than to treat them better so that more slaves would survive longer

Hence, the death rate of slaves exceeded the birth rate

Other results Maroons: escaped slaves who

found refuge in the mountains and jungles

Slave revolts: Caribbean slaves had the most incentive to revolt, since they had so little to lose

Residents of acommunity on

Jamaicafounded byMaroons

(c. 1909-10)

Africa in the Atlantic SystemSlavery in Brazil

Slavery in Brazil was depicted for many decades to have been less oppressive than its Caribbean counterpart despite the fact it also was a sugar growing region

Legal traditions which grew out of Portuguese Catholicism moderated the behavior of Brazilian plantation owners

Slaves that became Christian had a right to Catholic sacraments and their marriages and families were protected by law

However, later historians demonstrated the reality of life for Brazilian slaves was just as horrible as in the Caribbean

Plus, it should be noted that Brazil was the last country in the Americas to free its slaves—not until 1888

A Brazilian slaveholder whips his slavec. 1800

Africa in the Atlantic SystemSlavery in North America

Slavery in North America seems to have been the most benign, at least in terms of population evidence

What became the United States actually had a naturally reproducing and growing slave population

645,000 slaves imported into N. America--4 million slaves by 1860

The growing slave population was apparently not the result of superior North American morals

It seems the crops grown by North Americans, although profitable, were not as lucrative as sugar

Tobacco, rice, and eventually cotton Americans simply lacked the financial

incentive to work their slaves to death Instead, their financial incentive was

to increase their slave population through natural increase