Slavery
The Atlantic System
Sub-Sahara Africa
Starting in the 1400’s the west coast of Africa
came under the influence of European explorers
 First the Portuguese and later the Spanish,
British, French and Dutch seized cities, built
fortresses, and established permanent colonies
 Europeans began to exploit the natural
resources of Africa such as gold, spices, ivory
either through trade or force
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Sub-Sahara Africa
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Soon Europeans found the
need for a new natural
resource in the New World
With the plantation system
and the need for labor which
the Native Americans were
unwilling to fulfill the
Portuguese and later the
other European nations
found a need for slaves
West and Central Africa
Quickly the number of slaves and slave ship
increased from Africa to the New World
 At first European nations only took slaves from
the coastal areas because they were unable to
gain entrance into the interiors of Africa
 By the mid-1800’s Europeans were able to
explore and colonize the interior regions of
Africa
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Songhai
Askia Mohammed
Songhai
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As the Kingdom of Mali
began to decline a new Askia
Mohammed a skilled general
who expanded the
boundaries of Songhai while
also promoting the arts and
culture of the Songhai
Kingdom
Songhai reached it’s height
between 1500 to 1590
Kingdom of the Kongo
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Another large and rich
kingdom was that of the
Kongo in west central Africa
The people of the Kongo
were skilled in working with
wood, copper and iron
There was a division of labor
within this cultural kingdom
Kingdom of the Kongo
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In the late 1400’s the
Portuguese come into
contact with the Kongo
Christian missionaries
convert the kingdom when
they are able to convert
Nzinga Mvemba the ruler of
the Kongo
Both Portugal and the
Kongo exchanged
ambassadors and at first dealt
with each other on an equal
basis.
Kingdom of the Kongo
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Soon however Portugal’s need for slaves caused the
Portuguese to enslave the people of the Kongo
Mvemba and the people of the Kongo attempted to
stop the slave trade and drive the Portuguese out of the
Kongo
The attempt to push out the Portuguese was not
successful-Portugal had established a strong dominance
over
 Trade in the Kongo
 Portugal had better technology to overcome the
Kongo and it’s people
The Gold Coast
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Cooperation with the Slave Trade
During the 1400’s many African nations were
formed through trade with Europeans
 Many West African nations emerge

 Oyo
 Benin
 Dahomey
 Kongo
 Asante
(Ashanti)
The Gold Coast

Cooperation with the Slave
Trade
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Many of these new nations
were warring with other older
or emerging nations
Due to this warring nature
prisoners of war were often
sold into European slave
markets established along the
West African coast
Africans were selling Africans
into slavery
The Gold Coast
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Asante
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Established in 1680 by Osei
Tutu
Became a strong African
nation because of it’s sale of
gold and slaves in return for
guns and gunpowder from
European nations
Because of this West Africa
became known as the Gold
Coast
Asante was one of the few
places that had abundant
mineral and agricultural
resources
African Slave Trade
Once slaves and the prospect for slaves dried up
on the coast West Africans began warring
against Central African nations
 European’s desire for slaves lead to constant
warfare between African nations to obtain more
slaves
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Reasons for the Slave Trade
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1. The need for labor
intensive work on the
plantations
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Planting, harvesting sugar
At first sugar plantations
off the coast of Africa,
Sao Tome and later Brazil
and the Caribbean caused
the need for labor to
become more intense
Reasons for the Slave Trade

2. Native American were not well suited to be
slaves
The Catholic Church objected to native Americans
being used as slaves
 The native Americans were not well suited for the
hard labor of slavery
 Native Americans did not have knowledge of
different activities like mining, agricultural work or
sugar cultivation like Africans
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The Atlantic Slave Trade
In 1518 the first recorded shipment of slaves
was brought by the Portuguese from Africa to
the New World
 In the 1400’s about 1,000 slaves a year were
brought from Africa to the New World
 In the 1500’s about 2,000 slaves a year were
brought to the New World
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The Atlantic Slave Trade
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During the 16th and 17th Century the need for
slaves dramatically increased
37% of all slaves brought to the New World went to
Brazil
 15% went to Spanish America
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By the 17th Century other European nations
settled in the New World also needed slaves
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41% of slaves went to non-Spanish colonies
The Atlantic Slave Trade

Southern Colonies of
British North America
were slaves were used to
grow crops such as
tobacco and cotton
accounted for 5% of the
slaves
The Atlantic Slave Trade
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In the 1600’s more than
1 million slaves were
transported from Africa
In the 1700’s at the peak
of the slave trade 6
million slaves were
transported to the New
World
The Middle Passage
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Most slaves were captives
or prisoners of war
Often times slaves were
separated from their
families, mixed with
other tribes, spoke
different languages or
practiced different
customs
The Middle Passage
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At the ports of West African
countries slaves were loaded
onto ships destine for the
New World
This passage to the New
World was known as the
Middle Passage
Slave ships were build and
loaded to carry as many
slaves as possible to ensure
greater profits
The Middle Passage
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Slaves were chained together and then chained to the
boat lying on their backs
Hundreds of other slaves were also be chained to the
boat
Shackled in darkness and filth, seasickness and disease
were rife. The heat in the hold could be over 90 degrees
and the slaves would have no access to toilets or
washing facilities.
So foul was the smell of slave ships that other vessels
took care to steer well away from them.
The Middle Passage
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Once at sea, the slaves were brought up out of their steamy
dungeon each morning.
The men's' leg-irons were linked to a chain running down the
centre of the ship's deck to prevent them jumping overboard.
On some ships they were made to dance for exercise.
The slaves would receive their meal, usually a kind of porridge
made from maize or millet. A second meal might be provided in
the afternoon, usually the same as the first. While on deck a
good captain had the slaves washed down with warm vinegar
and scrubbed. Some did not bother and in rough weather the
slaves would not be allowed out at all.
The Middle Passage
In such conditions disease spread, and many
slaves died. It was not rare for hundreds to die in
an epidemic; occasionally every African on
board was dead by the time the ship entered
Caribbean waters.
 Their bodies would be thrown overboard.
 The average voyage could last 6 week to 3
months
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The Middle Passage
It has been estimated that between 9-11 million
people were taken from Africa by European
traders and landed alive on the other side of the
Atlantic.
 But as the average loss was 1/8 of all slaves it
can be estimated that a further 1½ million
Africans are buried in the Atlantic Ocean
between Africa and the Americas.
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The Triangle Trade
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At the end of the voyage
came the sale of the cargo.
Africans were inspected for
physical faults and auctioned
like meat in a meat-market.
Families were split up forever
and life as a plantation slave
would begin.
The Triangle Trade
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Meanwhile, the captains totted up the profits
and the crew began cleaning out the ship to take
on a cargo of colonial produce, which had to be
carried in better conditions than the slaves had
endured. As soon as the ship was ready and
loaded, the final part of the Trade Triangle
The Return Passage
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Having loaded the ships with
sugar, tobacco and rum paid
for from the proceeds of the
sale of slaves, the captains
would try to set sail for
England on the final part of
their triangular voyage before
the Hurricane season began
in mid-July.
The Return Passage
A ship that sank, or was wrecked near the
English coast, could mean disaster for a single
owner. This was the reason most merchant
ventures shared the risk, and therefore the
profit, by investing jointly in the trade.
 This was a business venture and profit was to be
made off the sale of slaves and the return of
goods
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The World Economy
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Slavery was a crucial element in European economic
life
By the 1800’s every major nation had made a profit off
the sale or use of slaves
This was evident by the reluctance of nations to make
slavery illegal
The Triangle trade of slaves for goods and later the
exchange of European finished goods (metalware,
cotton textiles, processed alcohol gin and rum and fire
arms) made the slave trade possible and profitable
The World Economy
Finished Goods
Europe
New World
Finished Goods
Raw Materials
New World
African Slaves
Africa
World Economy
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In America the slaves would be traded for raw
materials
Furs, tobacco, raw cotton, sugar and silver
 The raw materials would then be transported back to
Europe and turned into finished goods
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In Africa finished European goods would be
exchanged for
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Gold, ivory, timber and slaves
World Economy
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It was the ruthless expansion of Europeans into
Africa and the exploitation of African goods
including people (slaves) that accounted for the
growth and expansion of European wealth from
the 1400’s to the 1800’s.