The Atlantic Slave TradeChapter 16 section 4

Key Terms• Plantation• Triangular Trade• Middle passage• Olaudah Equiano

The Atlantic Slave Trade• Shortage of labor• Needed large

numbers of workers• Plantations- estates

where cash crops such as sugar or tobacco were grown on a large scale• First used Native

Americans

The Atlantic Slave Trade• European diseases

killed millions• 1600’s plantations

used indentured servants• People worked for a

set amount of time to pay for their passage• These workers were

expensive to support

The Atlantic Slave Trade • Millions of Africans

were taken to the Americas before slave trade ended in the 1800’s• Most came from west

Africa, Senegal, and Angola• Some slaves exchanged

for firearms, others were kidnapped

The Atlantic Slave Trade• Captured slaves were

marched to ships • Triangular Trade• First leg were ships

carrying goods to Africa• Goods exchanged for

slaves• Middle Passage-Africans

brought to the Americas to be sold as slaves

• Third carried rice, sugar, and tobacco to Europe

Middle Passage• Terrifying ordeal• Africans were

chained together• Forced into dark

quarters below deck• Packed so tight they

could not sit or stand• Journey lasted three

to six weeks

Middle Passage• 10-20 percent did not

survive the voyage• Those who reached the

Americas were then auctioned off• Olaudah Equiano- wrote

about the condition• Stench was so bad• Women shrieking• People moaning and

dying

Slavery in the Colonies• Slaves taken to

Americas• Spanish took slaves to

the Caribbean• Portuguese took

millions to Brazil• English took most of

their slaves to the West Indies• Brought large numbers

to the colonies

Slavery in the Colonies

Living Conditions• Most slaves worked on

plantations• Others worked in

mines, in towns, and in the countryside• Skilled crafters

continued their craft• Carpenters• Metal workers• Coopers• Women give domestic

duties

Living Conditions• Had to meet their

basic needs in a short hours after the workday• Daily tasks • Cooking• Mending clothing• Tending to the sick• Had to fit around the

work of the slaveholder

Living Conditions• Were harsh• Owners and

overseers inflicted physical and degrading punishment for minor offenses• Many slaveholders

lived in fear of rebellion

Resistance• Laws considered slaves

as property• Had no rights or

freedoms• Slaveholders

controlled living conditions• Slaves endured brutal

treatment and abuse• Coped with inhumane

conditions

Resistance• Some tried to keep

their culture alive• Some turned to

religion for a better life• Some fought back by• Slowing down their

work• Some destroyed

equipment• Some revolted• Some ran away

Effects of the Slave Trade• Lasted for 400 years• Estimates of 15-20

million slaves were shipped to the Americas• Millions more to

Europe, Asia, and the Middle East• Millions died from

marching to the coast and on slave ships

Effects of the Slave Trade• Slavery deprived

millions of their freedom and doomed their descendants to slavery• Captured many of the

strongest and future leaders• African waged war their

own people and neighbors to gain captives

Effects of the Slave Trade• Forced labor did not

enrich Africa• African labor built

the economies of American colonies• Knowledge of

agriculture led to growth of the rice industry