in
1600-1865
Warm-up
1.
2.
3.
4.
What is the word you think of when you hear
the word slavery?
List out at least five things that you know
about slavery?
What is the purpose of slavery?
How would slave traders justify trading
people?
Analyzing an image



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

Describe what you see.
What do you notice first?
What people and objects are shown? · How are they
arranged?
What is the physical setting?
What, if any, words do you see?
What other details can you see?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1h306b.html
Analyze the artwork...
1. What do you notice first?
2. What things do you see? (list 5)
3. What does each object
symbolize?
4. What might the colors
represent?
Assessment on personal
accounts.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Which 3 viewpoints are used to describe the African slave trade?
How did the Europeans ‘justify the taking of slaves’?
How did British merchants first obtain slaves from Africa?
What may have caused Olaudah Equiano to lose his appetite on board the
slave ship?
Why did the white people seem savage to Equiano?
Why would the Europeans be concerned with the health and well being of the
slaves?
Why would the Africans think that the white man may want to eat them?
After being captured by a neighboring tribe, describe the general feelings that
Ottobah Cugoano describes when he is left by his ‘kidnapper’?
What made Ottobah Cugoano realize that he was being handed over to a slave
trader?
Why is Kwesi J. Anquandah -King of Dahomey upset over the way the
Africans involved in the slave trade are represented in European accounts of
them?
How do the Europeans who are working on the slave ships describe their
‘cargo’?
Why would the slave ship workers continue to ship people to be sold, given
their view of their condition?
Poetry Analysis
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Tone – sad, inspirational, ambitious, motivational
audience – discouraged, black people, anyone needing
inspiration, those seeking hope, the struggling, pessimistic people
MESSAGE –making the impossible…possible, keep pushing,
keep following your dreams…, you can make it regardless of your
circumstances
Figurative language – oxymoron (proving nature’s laws wrong),
personification (grew and breathe), alliteration –same letters,
Elements - rose = symbolism for persistency, concrete = society,
crack = trap, fresh air = new beginning, walking = escaped the
trap.
Leg 1
Traders would bring manufactured goods from Europe and other goods to the west coast of Africa in exchange
for able-bodied men that could be used in slavery.
They would be taken to European colonies in North and South America.
Leg 2
The colonies would produce large amounts of raw materials and crops for the mother country. These crops
would be sent back to Europe to be made into manufactured goods.
•
Tobacco
•
Corn
•
Sugar
•
Cotton
Leg 3
Manufactured goods were sent all over the world especially Africa.
The Triangular Trade

The triangular trade was important to
the British Empire

Slaves were the first cargo shipped to
the Americas

While the Americas brought the
cargo of raw materials taken to
Europe – rice, cotton, tobacco

The raw materials taken into Europe
were made into manufactured goods
and shipped all over the world
including Africa.
1. What is the total percentage of slaves
came from West central, Bight of
Biafra, and Bight of Benin areas?
2. Which region had the highest rate of
slave exportation?
3. According to the table, how many total
slaves were exported from Africa?
4. …Does this account for every slave
that was exported from Africa? Why?
5. Why do you think most slaves came
from the Western part of Africa?
Groups which helped slavery come
into existence
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The African tribal chiefs – after wars, chiefs
would often sell off the prisoners which they had
captured to Europeans. They claimed that they
were shipping off their criminals
The ship merchants – Europeans who bought the
slaves from African chiefs. Later, these merchants
would begin capturing people on their own
The slave owner – without a buyer there is no
market, slave owners would pay a hefty price for
ownership of another person
Capture and the Middle
Passage


After capture,
Africans were
packed tightly into
slave ships.
The death rate of
the “passengers”
was 50%.
histclo.com
Reasons Africans were
enslaved in their own land

Africans were
generally enslaved
for four main
reasons:
1.
2.
3.
4.
War
Destitution
Debt
Crime
en.wikipedia.org
The Middle Passage
americanabolitionist.liberalarts.iupui.edu
Destination, Auction, and
Seasoning
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Most Africans landed in Brazil with the least number
landing in North America.
Slaves were auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Slaves were put through a process of “seasoning” to
get them ready for work.
They learned an European language, were named an
European name, and were shown labor requirements.
The Beginnings of Slavery in the
U.S.


The Portuguese and Spanish
had already brought Africans
to South and Latin America.
In 1619, the first Africans
were brought to the colony
Jamestown, Virginia by the
Dutch.
picturehistory.com
Why Not Enslave the Native
Population?
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Native Americans were highly likely to catch
European diseases.
They were familiar with the terrain and could
escape easier.
They had political allies that could fight against
the “owners.”
Reasons for Using Enslaved
African Labor


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Proximity-It only took 2-6 weeks to get to the colonies
from the Caribbean at first.
Experience-They had previous experience and
knowledge working in sugar and rice production.
Immunity from diseases-Less likely to get sick due to
prolonged contact over centuries.
Low escape possibilities-They did not know the land,
had no allies, and were highly visible because of skin
color.
Case Study: Anthony Johnson
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He was an African
brought to the colonies in
the 1620s.
He obtained his freedom,
and purchased 250 acres
of land in Virginia.
He owned at least one
slave and white
indentured servants.
This shows that blacks
were not thought of
strictly as slaves until the
1660s.
http://claver.gprep.org
Slavery in the Colonies
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New England colonies-no large plantation
systems; slaves lived in cities and small farms
Chesapeake Bay colonies-large tobacco
plantations; center of the domestic slave trade
Carolinas and Georgia-large rice and cotton
plantations
hansengeorge.blogspot.com
The Effects of the American
Revolution and the Constitution

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Gradual abolition of
slavery in the northern
colonies
End of the Atlantic Slave
Trade in 1808
Entrenchment of slavery
in the South with the
invention of the cotton
gin in 1793 by Eli
Whitney
Life of a Slave
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Most slaves had Sundays off and they went to church.
Most slaves could not read or write, and it was illegal
for them to learn.
Slave Codes-They could not: leave their home without
a pass, carry a weapon, gather in groups, own
property, legally marry, defend themselves against a
white person, or speak in court.
Resistance
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Flight-Slaves would runaway.
Truancy-Flight for a short
amount of time and then the
slave came back.
Refusal to reproduce-Women
refused to have children.
Covert Action-Slaves would
sometimes kill animals, destroy
crops, start fires, steal stuff,
break tools, poison food.
Violence

4 major slave revolts
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Stono Rebellion-failed revolt in South Carolina in
1739
Gabriel Prosser-led failed revolt in Virginia in 1800
Denmark Vessey-led failed revolt in South Carolina in
1822
Nat Turner-killed 60 white people in Virginia in 1831
Punishment


Slaves were often
brutally punished for
misbehaving.
Punishments included:
whipping, branding,
being sold, gagged
(silence), and other
torturous methods were
used.
Land of Freedom?
SLAVERY IN COLONIAL AMERICA
CREATING ANGLO-AMERICA
TWO BASIC QUESTIONS:
• HOW DID SLAVERY TAKE ROOT IN THE
ATLANTIC WORLD?
• WHAT IS THE LANGUAGE OF FREEDOM?
TOBACCO AND SLAVERY
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
Englishmen and Africans
 The spread of tobacco led settlers to turn to slavery, which
offered many advantages over indentured servants
 In the early to mid-seventeenth century, the
concepts of race and racism had not fully developed
 Africans were seen as alien in their color, religion, and
social practices
Slavery in History
 Although slavery has a long history, slavery in the North
America was markedly different from Europe
 Slavery developed slowly in the Americas because slaves
were expensive and their death rate was high in the
seventeenth century
SLAVERY IN THE WEST INDIES
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
“NO EUROPEAN NATION, INCLUDING
ENGLAND, EMBARKED ON THE
COLONIZATION OF THE NEW WORLD WITH
THE INTENTION OF RELYING ON AFRICAN
SLAVED FOR THE BULK OF ITS LABOR
FORCE.”
BUT THE INCESSANT DEMAND FOR WORKERS
SPURRED BY THE SPREAD OF TOBACCO
CULTIVATION LED TO IT EVENTUALLY.
The Idea of Race
How do you define racism?
When did the idea of racism develop?
THE IDEA OF RACE
Define racism
 Discrimination of another
person based on their
ethnicity, culture,
background, religion.
 Hatred towards people that
are not the same race as
yours.
 Stereotypes
 The belief that your race is
superior to another.
When did racism develop?
 Forever / whenever
 1900s?
 1600s?
 1700s?
 1600-1700.
“RACE” & “RACISM”
• THE TERM “RACE” IS A MODERN
CONCEPT THAT HAD NOT FULLY
DEVELOPED IN THE 17TH CENTURY.
• ITS MEANING, IS THE IDEA THAT
HUMANITY IS DIVIDED INTO WELLDEFINED GROUPS ASSOCIATED WITH
COLOR.
“RACE” & “RACISM”
FONER DEFINES “RACISM” AS:
“AN IDEOLOGY BASED ON THE
BELIEF THAT SOME RACES ARE
INHERENTLY SUPERIOR TO
OTHERS AND ENTITLED TO RULE
OVER THEM.”
SLAVERY AND THE LAW
The line between slavery and freedom was more
permeable in the seventeenth century than it
would later become.
Some free blacks were allowed to sue and
testify in court.
Anthony Johnson arrived as a slave but
became a slave-owning plantation owner.
SLAVERY AND THE LAW
• It was not until the 1660s that the laws of Virginia and
Maryland explicitly referred to slavery.
• A Virginia law of 1662 provided that in the case of a child
who had one free and one enslaved parent, the status of
the offspring followed that of the mother.
• In 1667 the Virginia House of Burgesses decreed that
religious conversion did not release a slave from bondage.
NORTH AMERICAN SLAVERY
“IN THE AMERICA’S, SLAVERY WAS BASED ON
THE PLANTATION, AN AGRICULTURAL
ENTERPRISE THAT BROUGHT TOGETHER LARGE
NUMBERS OF WORKERS UNDER THE CONTROL
OF A SINGLE OWNER. THIS IMBALANCE
MAGNIFIED THE POSSIBILITY OF SLAVE
RESISTANCE AND MADE IT NECESSARY TO
POLICE THE SYSTEM RIGIDLY. IT ENCOURAGED
THE CREATION OF A SHARP BOUNDARY
BETWEEN SLAVERY AND FREEDOM.”
A Slave Society
A number of factors made slave labor very
attractive to English settlers by the end of the
17th century, and slavery began to supplant
indentured servitude between 1680 and 1700
By the early eighteenth century, Virginia
had transformed from a society with
slaves to a slave society.
In 1705, the House of Burgesses enacted
strict slave codes.
Notions of Freedom
Notions of Freedom
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
From the start of American slavery, blacks ran
away and desired freedom.
Settlers were well aware that the desire for
freedom could ignite the slaves to rebel
Slave Culture and Slave
Resistance
African-American Cultures
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In the Chesapeake, slaves learned English, were part
of the Great Awakening, and were exposed to white
culture
In South Carolina and Georgia, two very different
black societies emerged

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Rice plantations remained distinctly African
Urban servants assimilated into EuroAmerican culture
CRISES OF RESISTANCE,
1739-1741
1739 – ON JAMAICA, A MAJOR BRITISH CENTER OF SUGAR PRODUCTION,
COMMUNITIES OF MAROONS RESISTED PLANTERS’ AUTHORITY UNTIL
BRITISH AUTHORITIES IN A TREATY RECOGNIZED THEIR FREEDOM IN
EXCHANGE FOR WHICH THE MAROONS AGREED TO RETURN FUTURE
ESCAPEES.
1739-40 – STONO REBELLLION IN SOUTH CAROLINA SAW AN UPRISING OF
OVER 100 SLAVES WHICH LED TO A TIGHTER SLAVE CODE FOR SOUTH
CAROLINA AND A PROHIBITIVE TAX ON IMPORTED SLAVES
1741 – RIOTS AND FIRES IN NEW YORK CITY WHERE SLAVES WITH WHITE
ALLIES PLANNED TO BURN PART OF THE CITY,. SEIZE WEAPONS, AND
MURDER THE WHITE POPULATION OR TURN OVER NEW YORK TO SPAIN.
ALL THESE CRISES DISPROVE THE NOTION THAT SLAVES HAD NO CONCEPT
OF “LIBERTY”
Slavery and the British Empire
Slave Systems in the English Colonies
 Three distinct slave systems were well entrenched in
Britain’s mainland colonies
 Chesapeake
 South Carolina and Georgia
 Non- plantation societies of New England and the
Middle Colonies
 Chesapeake slavery was based on tobacco
 Chesapeake plantations tended to be smaller and daily
interactions between masters and slaves were more
extensive
Slavery and the Empire


Slavery transformed Chesapeake society into an
elaborate hierarchy of degrees of freedom

large planters

yeomen farmers

indentured servants; tenant farmers

slaves
With the consolidation of a slave society, race took on
more and more importance as a line of social division

Liberties of free blacks were stripped away
Slavery in the Empire
Slavery and the Empire

Slavery in the North
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Since the economics of New England and the Middle
Colonies were based on small farms, slavery was far
less important
Given that slaves were few and posed little threat to
the white majority, laws were less harsh than in the
South
Slaves did represent a sizable percentage of urban
laborers, particularly in New York and Philadelphia
An Empire of Freedom
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British Patriotism
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Despite the centrality of slavery to its empire,
eighteenth-century Great Britain prided itself on being
the world’s most advanced and freest nation
Britons shared a common law, a common language, a
common devotion to Protestantism, and a common
enemy in France
Britons believed that wealth, religion, and freedom
went together
An Empire of Freedom


The Language of Liberty

All eighteenth-century Britons “reveled in their worldwide
reputation for freedom”

It was common for ordinary folk to evoke “liberty” when
protesting “in the streets”
Republican Liberty

Republicanism called for the virtuous elite to give
themselves to public service

Country Party was critical of the corruption of British
politics

Cato’s Letters were widely read by the American
colonists
An Empire of Freedom

Liberal Freedom

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The leading philosopher of liberty was John Locke
Lockean ideas included individual rights, the consent of
the governed, and the right of rebellion against unjust or
oppressive government
Locke’s ideas excluded many from their full benefits in
the eighteenth century, but they opened the door for
many people to challenge later the limitations on their
own freedom
Republicanism and liberalism would eventually come to
be seen as alternative understanding of freedom
The Enlightenment

The American Enlightenment


Americans sought to apply to political and social
life the scientific method of careful investigation
based on research and experiment
Deists and natural laws embodied the spirit of the
American enlightenment


Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Jefferson
PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTION


What is wrong with the phrase, “empire of
freedom?”
How can you refer to yourself as an empire of
freedom if your industries need slavery?
Compromise of 1850

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California comes in the Union (United States)
as a free state
Utah and New Mexico territories are created-no
mention of slavery
Outlaws slave trade in Washington, D.C.
Fugitive Slave Act-requires northerners to
return escaped slaves to masters
The Dred Scott Decision



Dred Scott was a slave who was taken to a free
territory by his owner.
He sued for his freedom because he lived in the free
territory.
His case went all the way to the Supreme Court, where
Scott loses because he was not considered a citizen,
thus could not sue in federal court. (He was “property”
and could be taken anywhere.)
Election of 1860 and the Start of
the Civil War

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
Abraham Lincoln was elected
president in 1860 without any
southern electoral votes.
Many southern states quickly
seceded from the Union, South
Carolina leading the way.
Southern troops fired upon Fort
Sumter, starting the Civil War.
The North fought to preserve the
Union, while the South fought to
preserve slavery.
The Civil War and the
Emancipation Proclamation



Early in the war, Lincoln began to
think about ending slavery in the
South to help end the war.
On September 22, 1862 he issued
the Emancipation Proclamation
which declared an end to slavery
in the states in rebellion on
January 1, 1863.
What did it do? Nothing. It only
freed slaves in the states that had
seceded.
End of the Civil War and the 13th
Amendment



The South lost, and the states
were forced to accept the 13th
Amendment to the
Constitution before they
could be readmitted into the
Union.
13th Amendment-It abolished
slavery in the United States.
It was ratified in 1865.