The Atlantic Slave Trade
1450-1865
Introduction
• The Atlantic Slave Trade was the
most significant link Africa had to
the larger Atlantic World in early
modern times.
• African peoples received
European goods for slaves.
• Firearms were the most common.
Europeans and Africans Trade
Europeans
• By the 15th and 16thc when the
Europeans ventured to Africa, the
slave trade was well-established.
• European influence caused it to
expand dramatically.
• Affected the development of
Atlantic settlements.
The Early Slave Trade
• Earliest European slave traders
were Portuguese.
• They learned that they could buy
slaves instead of capturing them.
• Increased the numbers of slaves
they brought home.
Cape Verde
Sao Tome
Slavery Expands
• Meanwhile, disease had reduced
the native populations in Spanish
territories.
• Spanish looked for laborers for the
Caribbean and the Americas.
• In 1518, the first shipment of slaves
went directly from west Africa to
the Caribbean where the slaves
worked on sugar plantations.
Slavery Expands Continued
• By the 1520s, the Spanish had
introduced slaves to Mexico, Peru,
and Central America where they
worked as cultivators and miners
• By the early 17th Century, the
British had introduced slaves to
North America
Triangular Trade Continued
– European goods (cloth ,metal
wares, and firearms) went to Africa
and were exchanged for slaves.
– Slaves were then shipped to the
Caribbean and Americas where they
were sold for cash or sometimes
bartered for sugar or molasses.
– Then the ships returned to Europe
loaded with American products.
• Typical
Triangular
Trade Route
“Molasses to rum to slaves Who sail the ships
back to Boston Ladened with gold, see it
gleam Whose fortunes are made in the
triangle trade Hail slavery, the New England
dream!”
– Song from the play 1776
Capture
• The capture of slaves was violent.
• As European demand grew,
African chieftains raided
neighboring societies.
• Others launched wars to capture
slaves.
The Middle Passage
• Slaves were force-marched to
holding pens before being loaded
on ships
• The trans-Atlantic journey was
called the “Middle Passage”
• The ships were filthy, hot, and
crowded
• The Middle
Passage
The Middle Passage Continued
• Most ships provided slaves with
enough room to sit upright, but not
enough to stand
• Others forced slaves to lie in chains
with barely 20 inches space
between them
The Middle Passage Continued
• Men were “housed” on the right;
women on the left; children in the
middle. The human Cargo was
jammed onto platforms six feet wide
often without sufficient headroom for
an adult to sit up.
The Middle Passage Continued
The Middle Passage Continued
• Crews attempted to keep as many
slaves alive as possible to maximize
profits, but treatment was
extremely cruel
• Some slaves refused to eat and
crew members used tools to pry
open their mouths and force-feed
them
• Daily "dancing" was enforced
on many slave ships as a form
of exercise. People were made
to hop in place in their shackles
and exercise by swinging their
arms. The crew walked among
them with whips or cat-o'-ninetails to compel the forced
recreation.
The Middle Passage Continued
• People were thrown overboard
due to shortages in supplies or
an outbreak of disease.
• Cargo (human beings) was
often insured so that there was
no financial loss.
Slaves Left to Die
• Often people that were
unhealthy or sick were left
behind.
Arrival
• When the slave ship docked, the
slaves would be placed in a pen.
• They would be washed and covered
with grease or tar to make them
look healthy.
• They would also be branded with a
hot iron to identify them as slaves.
Auctions
• Slaves were sold at auctions
• Buyers physically inspected the
slaves
• Auctioneers had slaves perform
various acts to demonstrate their
physical abilities
Auctions
Auctions
• “We were not many days in the merchant’s custody,
before we were sold after their usual manner... On a
signal given, (as the beat of a drum), buyers rush at
once into the yard where the slaves are confined, and
make a choice of that parcel they like best. The noise
and clamor with which this is attended, and the
eagerness visible in the countenances of the buyers,
serve not a little to increase the apprehension of
terrified Africans... In this manner, without scruple, are
relations and friends separated, most of them never to
see each other again. I remember in the vessel in
which I was brought over... there were several brothers
who, in the sale, were sold in different lots; and it was
very moving on this occasion, to see and hear their
cries in parting.”
– Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of
Olaudah Equiano
Plantations
• Most African slaves went to the
Caribbean or South America.
• Plantations produced crops like
sugar, tobacco, indigo, and cotton.
• Crops were exported for profit.
Caribbean and South America
• Disease, brutal working conditions,
and poor sanitation and nutrition
resulted in high mortality rates.
• Owners imported mainly male
slaves and allowed few to establish
families which resulted in low
reproduction.
• Between 1501 and
the 1860s, at least
twelve million African
men, women, and
children were
transported in the
transatlantic slave
trade. Among them
were farmers,
fishermen, cattle
herders,
craftspeople,
notables, scholars,
slaves, musicians, as
well as political and
religious leaders.
North America
• Diseases took less of a toll in North
America and living conditions were
usually less brutal
• Plantation owners imported large
numbers of female slaves and
encouraged their slaves to form
families and bear children
Forms of Resistance
•
•
•
•
Work slowly
Sabotage
Runaway
Revolt
Slavery Continues
• Abolishing the slave trade did not
end slavery
• British ships patrolled the west
coast of Africa to halt illegal trade
• The last documented ship that
carried slaves across the Atlantic
arrived in Cuba in 1867
Impact of Slave Trade in Africa
• Some states like Rwanda largely
escaped the slave trade through
resistance and geography
• Some like Senegal in west Africa
were hit very hard
• Other societies benefited
economically from selling slaves,
trading, or operating ports
Impact of Slave Trade in Africa
• As abolition took root in the 19th
Century some African merchants
even complained about the lose of
their livelihood
• On the whole, however, the slave
trade devastated Africa
Impact of Slave Trade in Africa
• It deprived Africa of a huge fraction
of their population.
• It distorted African sex ratios
because ~ 2/3 of slaves were male.
• The introduction of firearms
increased the level of violence