Slavery
Essential Questions
• Why were African Americans more desirable as slaves than indentured
servants or Native Americans?
• What sort of conditions did Africans endure on their voyage to the New
World?
• What impact did slavery have on both sides in the American Revolution?
• What impact did slavery have on the writing of the Constitution and the
Northwest Ordinance?
• How were slaves’ family and personal lives different than those of other
Americans?
• What sorts of conditions affected the development and growth of slavery in
the North? In the South?
• What tactics and strategies did the leaders of the abolitionist movement use to
promote their cause?
• How did blacks and whites seek to assist those who wanted to escape slavery?
• How did slavery lead to the rise of sectionalism and the beginning of the Civil
War?
Slavery in Africa
• Slaves represented the
bottom stratum of
African society
• Different from slavery
as it developed in the
Americas
• Most African slaves
were captives of war
• Slavery in Africa not
permanent or hereditary
• Assimilation
Africans enslaved by other Africans
Indentured Servitude
A certificate of indenture
• A means for people to get
to the New World
• Master paid for passage to
America
• Indentured servant then
owed 5–7 years of work
• Once indenture was paid,
servant became free
• Indentured servants
initially more desirable
than slaves
The Origins of American Slavery
• First African slaves in
America brought to
Jamestown in 1619
• Slavery institutionalized
in many states by 1640
• Slaves became “chattel
property”
African slaves landing at Jamestown, 1619
Development of Slavery
in the New World
South American Indians captured as
slaves by Europeans
• Using Native Americans
as slaves problematic
• African slaves became
more cost effective than
indentured servants
• Colonists viewed blacks
as inferior
• Slaves were servants for
life
The Middle Passage
• Voyage of slaves from
Africa to the New
World
• Slaves tightly packed in
ships’ holds
• Filthy conditions
• Disease outbreaks
• Some 20% died during
the voyage to America
Diagram of a tightly packed slave ship
The Triangular Trade
• Involved Europe,
Africa, and the
Americas
• Trade goods carried
to Africa for slaves
• Slaves taken to the
Americas and traded
for raw materials
• Raw materials sent to
Europe to be made
into trade goods
Slave Auctions
Slave auctions such as the one depicted here were common
in the colonial era and after the Revolutionary War
• Slaves
“seasoned”
• Slaves
auctioned in a
manner similar
to livestock
• Inspected by
potential buyers
• “Grab and go”
auctions
African Americans
in the Revolution
• Blacks fought for
both sides
• British promised
freedom to slaves
• Washington
originally denied
black enlistments
• Rhode Island free
black regiment
Crispus Attucks, a former slave, was one of those killed
by British troops in the 1770 Boston Massacre