Fact or Crap
Slave Myths Revealed
US-U1-L4
SSUSH2a&b
SSUSH2 a & b
• Explain the development of mercantilism
and the trans-Atlantic trade.
• Describe the Middle Passage, growth of
the African population, and AfricanAmerican culture.
Mercantilism
• Definition: the theory that the state’s [nation’s] power
depends on its wealth
• The British felt that having colonies would increase their
wealth because the colonies would provide raw
materials, like lumber, coal, iron ore, cotton, tobacco,
etc., as well as open markets for buying Britain’s finished
goods like cigarettes, clothes, furniture, etc.
• It was also believed at the time that wealth was limited to
natural resources, specifically gold and silver, so the
more one country had the less any other country could
possess making the host country stronger and all other
countries weaker.
Trans-Atlantic Trade
Trans-Atlantic Trade
• There are multiple examples of
triangular trade, here are two: New
England, England, and the
Caribbean Islands; and New
England merchants would trade
rum to British merchants in
exchange for British goods. British
merchants then traded the rum to
West Africans in exchange for
enslaved Africans, who were then
transported across the Atlantic to
the Caribbean and traded for
sugar.
Navigation Acts
• The Navigation Acts
stated that all goods
shipped to or from the
British colonies had to
be shipped on British
ships and any exports
not going to Britain had
to first stop in Britain to
pay a tax. Some goods
could ONLY be exported
to Britain. These
restrictions were meant
to keep the colonies
from competing against
Britain.
• What would you do if
you were told you could
not trade with whomever
you chose?
Middle Passage
• The Royal African Company was granted a charter
from King Charles that allowed them to engage in
slave trade with the colonies.
• The sea voyage that carried Africans to North
America was called the Middle Passage because it
was the middle portion of a three-way voyage made
by the slave ships.
• Many people that boarded the ships died before ever
making it to North America.
• Reading from pg. 89 Equiano
Middle Passage Videos
• http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/
30011-assignment-discovery-the-middlepassage-video.htm
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo79P
HVI-ck
Growth of African American Population in the US
• Most Europeans coming to America no longer wished to
be indentured servants because they wanted to own
their own land and make their own money immediately;
plus land owners did not like having to set the indentured
servants free after about 7 years typically, therefore
slavery was a replacement. There was too much work to
be done, often times, then one family could do on their
own.
• When the first British settlers arrived in 1607 in
Jamestown there were no slaves, but by 1700 there
were thousands to support the agricultural society,
primarily in the south.
Slavery in the Colonies
• Some early slaves
on race, but the fact that they
found ways out of
thought of the slaves as
savages that needed to be
slavery by converting to
taken care of.
Christianity, because
the slave holders did not • In 1638 Maryland was the first
state to recognize “slave” as a
have slaves based
legal status, this began slavery
based on race instead of
religion.
• Slave codes were later put in
place to regulate slaves
relationships with white people.
African American
Culture in US
• Slave holders would specifically buy
slaves from different regions of West
Africa so the slaves could not speak to
each other and plot a rebellion.
• Due to rice planting in South Carolina
requiring such a large workforce that
was more separated from the white
people, the slaves there made their
own culture, such as a language
called Gullah which is a mixture of
African and English words. As more
and more slaves were born in America
more of them spoke English. Slaves
also mixed African religious tradition
with Christian to form their own
religion, and African music made its
way into songs and rhythms.
• Family names and cultural traditions
were often passed down even if the
family was separated.
Closing
•
•
•
What is mercantilism?
Why was the journey from Africa to the
Americas called the Middle Passage?
Why do you think the Navigation Acts
would make the colonists mad?