Agenda 11/17/14•Lecture #6 - The Atlantic Slave Trade •Handout - Chapter 21 Book notes and CTQs due Friday

Plantation Economy• Encomienda System - a system set up to allow the Spanish to force Native Indians to work for a wage. –4 of 5 Indians died in the mines within a year

• Bartolome de las Casas –fought for the rights and well being of native indians

• New Slave Laws - 1542 –because of de las Casas, laws protecting the Indians were established. By this time many were already dead

Father Bartolomé de Las Casas

Origins of Slavery in Africa•Slavery in Africa, as in other parts of the world, had existed for ages

•Between the years 650 and 1600, black and white Muslims transported 4.8 million African to Muslim lands in SW Asia.

•In African and Muslim societies, slaves had rights and the opportunity for social mobility.

•Slavery in African and Muslim societies was NOT hereditary.

Why African slaves?• Roots of Slavery - existed in Eastern Europe already, but access to slaves

was cut off. –Slave comes from the word Slav

• Africans were needed because Native Indians had died off. •There were several advantages in using Africans:

• They had been exposed to European diseases • They had experience in farming • They had little knowledge of the land and there were no familiar tribes • Africa already had an established slave trade

Slave Trade by the numbers•The exchange of guns for slaves is known as the Atlantic Slave Trade •Between 1500 and 1600, about 300,000 slaves were taken to the Americas.

•During the next 100 years, the number jumped to 1.5 million, and by 1870 the number was about 9.5 million.

•During the 1600’s, Brazil dominated the sugar market – and as it grew, so did the need for slaves.

•During the late 17th century, nearly 40% of the slaves from Africa were taken to Brazil.

•Brazil, by the end of the slave trade, had 10 times the amount of slaves than in North America.

The Triangular Trade• England dominated the slave trade from the 1690

until 1807. • By 1830, there were nearly 2 million African slaves

in North America. • African merchants, with the help of local rulers,

captured fellow Africans to be enslaved. • They delivered them to the Europeans in exchange

for gold, guns and other goods. • The trade routes formed a Triangle, becoming

known as the triangular trade. • Manufactured goods from Europe to Africa • Slaves from Africa to the Americas • Rum, and other goods from the Americas to

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The Middle Passage• Crowded, unsanitary conditions

• Slaves ride on planks 66” x 15” •only 20”– 25” of headroom

• Males chained together in pairs • Kept apart from women and children • High mortality rates

•1/3 perish between capture and embarkation

• Slaves fed twice per day • Poor and insufficient diet

•Vegetable pulps, stews, and fruits •Denied meat or fish •Ten people eating from one bucket •Unwashed hands spread disease •Malnutrition ~ weakness ~ depression ~ death 90

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“Coffin” Position Below Deck

The Middle Passage• 40 to 180 days to reach the Caribbean

•Brutal treatment by crew members • Uprisings were common • African Women on Slave Ships • Less protection against unwanted sexual

attention from European men

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The End of the JourneySurvival

• One-third died •Men died at a greater rate than women

• Had to adapt to new foods • Learn a new language

•Knew Creole dialect well enough to obey commands

Pre-sale • Bathe and exercise • Oil bodies to conceal blemishes and bruises • Hemp plugs

Modify behavior and attitude

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Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

The End of the Slave Trade• Cruelties help end Atlantic slave trade • Great Britain bans Atlantic slave trade in 1807

- Patrols African coast to enforce • United States congress outlaws slave trade in 1808

• Ten to Fifteen million Africans brought to the Americas during three centuries of trade

- Most arrived between 1701 and 1810 • In Africa, numerous cultures lost generations of their strongest

members, both men and women.

• Slavery in the American South vs. Slavery in Latin America • Of the 15 million Africans brought over - 70% went to the Caribbean but by 1860 (civil

war) over 2/3 of slaves were living in American South • Slaves were chattel

– sold at auctions – legally had no rights at all – seen as a resource not a person – no rights to religion or marriage – no chance at freedom – slaves are valuable to owners - thus often provided for (food, water, shelter, medicine) – many slaves were American born

• Slaves had rights under Catholic law – freedom to marry – ability to buy freedom – most directly from Africa – no food, or water given – always more slaves so no need to take care of – tougher working conditions – punishments more cruel/barbaric