A slave is someone who
is forced to work
through violence or the
threat of it, they are
under the complete
control of their
‘owners’.. They are
treated as property and
sometimes bought and
sold. They have no
rights, no individual
freedom.
The Atlantic Trade
The Triangular Trade
What is Triangular Trade?
CHEAP MANUFACTURED
GOODS
Trinkets – pots, pans
beads, shells, cloth
SLAVES WERE USED
ON PLANTATIONS,
GROWING SUGAR,
TOBACCO, COTTON.
U.S.A.
TRIBAL CHIEFS EXCHANGE SLAVES ,
OR SLAVES ARE CAPTURED
Mexico
Caribbean
Islands
SLAVE TRADERS THEN
SOLD THE SLAVES TO
PLANTATION OWNERS
Brazil
THE ‘MIDDLE PASSAGE’ –
THE JOURNEY ACROSS THE
ATLANTIC..
The Triangular Trade
West African Coast
Definition
Triangular Trade:
Trade routes between
Africa, Europe and
the Americas during
the Atlantic Slave
Trade.
Triangular Trade
• The demand for labor in the western
hemisphere stimulated a profitable threelegged trading pattern
– European manufactured goods, namely cloth
and metal wares, especially firearms, went to
Africa where they were exchanged for slaves
– The 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
Triangular Slave Trade
Europe
The
Americas
Africa
Triangular Trade
• Europeans transported manufactured
goods to the west coast of Africa. There,
traders exchanged these goods for
captured Africans.
Aim: How did the Atlantic slave
trade effect Africa?
Maps of the Triangular Trade
Two main patterns of Triangular
Trade
• Rum from New
England to West
Africa
• Slaves to sugar
islands
• Molasses home to the
New England
distilleries
• Manufactured goods
from England to
Africa
• Goods exchanged for
slaves taken to West
Indies. Profits used to
purchase sugar (and
other goods) for
England.
The Route
Aim: How did the Atlantic slave
trade effect Africa?
“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
Old World versus New World
Slavery
Old World vs. New World
Slavery
• Classical world and medieval slavery was not
based on racial distinctions.
• Ancient world did not necessarily view slavery as
a permanent condition.
• Slaves did not necessarily hold the loest status
in early civilizations.
• Slaves in the old world often were symbols of
prestige, luxury and power (true even in the ne
world prior to European Colonization).
THE TRANS ATLANTIC
SLAVE TRADE
GROWTH OF ABOLITION
MOVEMENT, 18TH CENTURY.
THE STONE AGE
1807 – BRITAIN DECLARES
SLAVE TRADE ILLEGAL
1808 – USA DECLARES
SLAVE TRADE ILLEGAL
Hunter-gatherer societies
did not have enough food to
feed extra mouths, so did
not have slaves.
ANCIENT CIVILISATIONS
FORCEDGIRLS
SLAVE
GLADIATORS
LABOUR
1833 – SLAVERY DECLARED ILLEGAL
ACROSS THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
1861-65 – AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
All Ancient civilisations
- whether in Europe, the
Middle East, Asia or the
Americas - made use of
slavery..
Western slavery goes
back 10,000 years to
Mesopatamia (present
day Iraq).
The Portuguese started the
Atlantic slave trade, soon to be
joined by the Spanish.
Christopher Columbus’ conquest
of the Caribbean virtually wiped
out the native Indians. They were
to be replaced by slaves brought
from Africa.
MEDIEVAL EUROPE
Slavery often
took place in
the name of
religion –
Christians,
Muslims and
Jews all took
part.
Europeans began to
dominate the African
trade from the 16th
century onwards.
A series of trading forts
were built along the
African coast to protect
European traders
interests.
THE ARAB TRADE
Slaves had been
transported across
the Sarahan region
to the Middle East
since Ancient times.
Slave market in Yemen
showing African slaves,
13 century AD.
Slaves were brought to the
coastal areas where they
were sold to European slave
traders
History of African Slavery
• Slavery has
existed since
antiquity
• It became
common in
Africa after the
Bantu migrations
spread
agriculture to all
parts of the
continent
The Slave Trade in Africa
• Ancient and universal phenomena
• African kingdoms and Islamic nations conduct
brisk commerce
– Not race based
• Arab merchants and West African kings imported white
slaves from Europe
– West African slave trade dealt mainly in women and
children who would serve as concubines and servants
• European demand for agricultural laborers changed slave
trading patterns
Slave Trade
• Atlantic Slave Trade: buying and selling of
Africans into slavery.
• Between 1500 and 1600, nearly 300,000
Africans were transported to the Americas.
• Most slaves were sold by Spain.
• They worked throughout South/North
America working on plantations and in
mines.
Aim: How did the Atlantic slave
trade effect Africa?
Origins of Slave Trade: How
did it Begin?
How Does The Slave Trade
Begin?
Early 1400’s – Europeans
sent explorers to West Africa
to map it and look for gold
They traded iron, copper,
fish, sugar, ivory, gold, and
pepper.
Europeans wanted to convert
Africans to Christianity
How Does The Slave Trade
Begin?
Europeans required a large
labor force to make their
American colonies profitable
1st used Native Americans
Then looked to Africans
because of their numbers and
their lack of modernization
The Origins of the Atlantic Slave
Trade
• In 15th century, slaves used as domestic
servants on Iberian Peninsula
• Other European countries had large work forces
and little need for slaves
• Purchased from African traders
– Portugal and Spain dominated slave trade in 16th
century
– Dutch dominated 17th century
– English dominated 18th century
European Slave Trade
• By the time Europeans arrived in Sub-Saharan
Africa in the 15th and 16th Centuries, the slave
trade was a well-established feature in African
society
• A detailed system for capturing, selling, and
distributing slaves had been in place for over
500 years
• With the arrival of the Europeans and the
demand for slaves in the Americas, the slave
trade expanded dramatically
How was slavery justified?
•
•
•
•
Early civilizations - accident or bad luck.
Aristotle - notion of the “natural slave”
Christian world - ‘Curse of Ham”
18th Century European - pseudo-scientific
racism.
Estimated Annual Exports of Slaves from Western Africa to
the Americas, 1500–1700
Figure 2–1. Estimated
Annual Exports of Slaves
from Western Africa to the
Americas, 1500–1700.
Source: John Thornton, Africa and Africans in the Making
of the Atlantic World, 1400–1680 (New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1992), 118.
Estimated Slave Imports by Destination, 1451–1870
Why Africans for slavery?
Why was Africa vulnerable to
the Slave Trade?
• Political Fragmentation
• Sailing Routes
• Availability of People
(high birth rate)
• Civilizations and Skills
(metalworking, farming,
herding)
• No diplomatic
repercussions.
Why not others?
•
•
•
•
•
Disease
Knowledge of terrain
Different Agricultural Skills
Supply deficit
Nation American women worked - not
men!
Why did European powers
eventually turn to African labor?
• Labor supply was insufficient.
• Epidemics reduced the native population
by 50% - 90%.
• Evidence of deeply help racist sentiment.
Racism was a consequence of racial
slavery as well as a cause.
• In English colonies the supply of servants
decreased.
Why was there a slave trade?
Demand
for
Goods
Demand
for
Slaves
European Countries Taking
Part in Slavery
Countries Participating
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Britain
Denmark
France
Holland
Portugal
Spain
Norway
Portugal
• 1424-1434: Prince Henry
the Navigator paid for
voyages along the West
Coast of Africa in search
of fishing banks.
• 1441, Antam Gonclaves
captured 10 Africans near
Cape Bojador. In 1481,
Portugal built the 1st
European fort called Fort
Elmina.
Prince Henry the Navigator
Fort
Elmina
Portuguese Slave Traders
• Portuguese began
capturing slaves in
Africa in the 15th
Century, but quickly
learned it was easier
to buy them
• In Europe, slaves
usually worked as
miners, porters, or
domestic servants
since free peasants
and serfs cultivated
the land
Europeans and Africans
Meet to Trade
Portuguese Slave Trade
• When the Portuguese
discovered the Azores,
Madeiras, Cape Verde
Islands, and Sao Tome
in the 15th Century they
were all uninhabited
• The Portuguese
population was too
small to provide a large
number of colonists
• The sugar plantations
required a large labor
force
• Slaves filled this
demand
Cape Verde
Sao Tome
Slave Trade and Sugar
• By the 1520s some
2,000 slaves per year
were shipped to Sao
Tome
• Some thereafter,
Portuguese
entrepreneurs extended
the use of slave labor to
South America
• Eventually Brazil would
become the wealthiest
of the sugar-producing
lands in the western
hemisphere
Katharina
Although the overwhelming
majority of Africans who were
caught up in the Atlantic slave
trade went to the Americas, a
few reached Europe. This
sixteenth-century drawing by
German artist Albrecht Dürer
depicts Katharina, a servant of
a Portuguese official who lived
in Antwerp.
SOURCE: Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), “Portrait of the Moorish
Woman Katharina.” Drawing. Uffizi Florence, Italy. Photograph
© Foto Marburg/Art Resource, NY.
Spain
• They needed slaves to
work on their
plantations in South
America & in the
Caribbean. In the 16th
century, Charles I
issued the 1st Asiento, a
license to import slaves
into Spanish Colonies.
This gave Spain a
monoploy on the slave
trade.
King Charles I
Slavery Expands
• As disease reduced the native populations in
Spanish conquered territories, the Spanish
began relying on imported slaves from Africa
• In 1518, the first shipment of slaves went directly
from west Africa to the Caribbean where the
slaves worked on sugar plantations
• 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
Asiento
England
• In 1662, Sir John
Hawkins took 3 ships
to Sierra Leone &
captured 300 slaves.
England
• Hawkins later
convinced Queen
Elizabeth I to
participate in the
slave trade.
England
• They began to bring
slaves to the
Caribbean. They
formed the Royal
African Company in
1672. This allowed
English colonies in
America to easily buy
slaves from English
traders.
England
• At the beginning only a few slaves came to
English colonies.
• But when the big tobacco, cotton and rice
plantations grew in the colonies in the south the
slave trade increased.
• At the conclusion of the War of Spanish
Succession, the Treaty of Utrecht gave to Great
Britain a thirty-year asiento, or contract, to
supply an unlimited number of slaves to the
Spanish colonies, and 500 tons of goods per
year.
• This gave England the monopoly on the slave
trade.
Stage One: Obtaining Slaves
in Africa
Geography of Slavery
• Enslaved Africans mostly
came from the area
stretching from the
Senegal River in Africa to
Angola.
• Europeans divided the
area into five regions:
–
–
–
–
–
Upper Guinea Coast
Ivory Coast
Lower Guinea Coast
Gabon
Angola
Stage One
• Ships left Europe loaded with goods, such as guns,
tools, textiles & rum.
• Crews with guns went ashore to capture slaves.
• Slaves were obtained by:
1. Kidnapping
2. Trading
3. People were given by chiefs as tributes (gifts)
4. Chiefs would send people who were in debt
5. Chiefs would send criminals through judicial
process
6. Prisoners of tribal wars were also sent.
The Atlantic Slave Trade
1550-1650
575,000 Slaves
1650-1750
3,850,000 Slaves
1750-1850
4,700,000 Slaves
Tegbesu is shown here
entertaining some
European slave traders.
King Tegbesu of
Dahomy, made
around HK$3,000,000
from selling Africans
in about 1750.
Prisoners of Tribal Wars.
Sale of
Slaves by
Tribal chiefs
Kidnappings
Criminals
Potential
plotters
against the
Tribal chief
Royal Wives
Capture
• The original capture
of slaves was almost
always violent
• As European demand
grew, African
chieftains organized
raiding parties to
seize individuals from
neighboring societies
• Others launched wars
specifically for the
purpose of capturing
slaves
Goree, or Slave-Stick
A French naval officer, in the Angola region in
the late eighteenth century, describes how
slave traders used "a forked branch which
opens exactly to the size of a neck so the
head can't pass through it. The forked branch
is pierced with two holes so that an iron pin
comes across the neck of the slave . . ., so
that the smallest movement is sufficient to
stop him and even to strangle him”
Goree, or Slave-Stick
Forced Participation
African Chiefs did resist in the beginning;
however, they needed weapons for
defence.
The Europeans were too powerful;
therefore, any effort to resistance was
unsuccessful
If chiefs did supply slaves, they were
threatened to be taken as slaves.
History of African Slavery
• Most slaves in Africa were
war captives
• Once enslaved, an
individual had no personal
or civil rights
• Owners could order slaves
to do any kind of work,
punish them, and sell them
as chattel
• Most slaves worked as
cultivators
Captured slaves often had to trek hundreds of miles from the interior to the slave coast,
where the European slave ships awaited them. They were linked together in ‘coffles’,
iron, or shown here, wooden collars and clinking chains.
African Captives in Yokes
Slave Trade in the Congo
PHYSICAL CHECKS
A dealer checks the condition of
newly arrived slaves for bad
teeth or grey hair.
BRANDING
Once bought the slave was
then branded with the owner’s
initials or mark.
Most brands were of silver
because wounds healed
faster than those made with
iron.
• Slaves were held in
prisons along the west
coast of Africa.
• They were waiting to put
on slaves ships.
• Those that journeyed
from the interior and were
not fit for the ship were
left on the shores to die
Cape Coast Castle, W. Africa
Slaves on reaching
the coast and
awaitingthe arrival
of slave ships were
kept in slave
barracks called
‘barracoons’.
Shown below, are
other methods of
detaining slaves.
“Black” Gold for Sale!
Stage Two: Middle Passage
Stage Two: The Middle Passage
- Ships sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to the
Americas
- The journey took 8-10 weeks
- Some Africans tried to jump ship, refused to eat
and rebelled.
- Loss of a slave’s life was a loss of $ for the
sailors.
The Middle Passage
The Horrors of the Middle Passage
Aim: How did the Atlantic slave
trade effect Africa?
The Middle Passage
Stage Two
“Loose packing” meant that the captains
would take on board fewer slaves in hope
to reduce sickness and death.
“Tight packing” meant that the captains
would carry as many slaves as their ship
could hold, as they believed that many
blacks would die on the voyage anyway
Middle Passage
• This is the voyage that brought captured
Africans to the West Indies and later to
North/South America.
• Cruelty characterized this journey. The
Africans were packed into ships with
beatings.
• They suffered horrible disease and abuse.
• Many committed suicide by throwing
themselves overboard.
Aim: How did the Atlantic slave
trade effect Africa?
Slave Ship Plan
The Voyage
Aim: How did the Atlantic slave
trade effect Africa?
“Coffin” Position:
Onboard a Slave Ship
Middle Passage
• 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
Middle Passage
• Tight packing - belly to
back, chained in twos,
wrist to ankle (660+),
naked.
• Loose packing shoulder to shoulder
chained wrist to wrist or
ankle to ankle.
• Men and woman
separated (men placed
towards bow, women
toward stern).
• Fed once of twice a day
and brought on deck for
Slave Ship Interior
Middle Passage
• Journey lasted 6-8 weeks.
• Due to high mortality rate, cargo was insured
(reimbursed for drowning accidents but not for
deaths from disease of sickness)
• Common to dump your cargo for sickness or
food shortages.
• Slave mutinies on board ships were common (1
out of every 10 voyages across the Atlantic
experience a revolt).
• Covert resistance (attempted suicide, jumped
overboard, refusal to eat).
Onboard the Slave Ship
Middle Passage
• 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
– Sick slaves were cast overboard to prevent infection from
spreading
• During the early days of the slave trade, mortality rates
were as high as 50%
• As the volume of trade increased and conditions
improved (bigger ships, more water, better nourishment
and facilities), mortality eventually declined to about 5%
Middle Passage
• The time a ship took to make the Middle Passage
depended upon several factors including its point of
origin in Africa, the destination in the Americas, and
conditions at sea such as winds, currents, and storms.
• With good conditions and few delays, a 17th Century
Portuguese slave ship typically took 30 to 50 days to sail
from Angola to Brazil.
• British, French, and Dutch ships transporting slaves
between Guinea and their Caribbean island possessions
took 60 to 90 days.
• As larger merchant ships were introduced, these times
reduced somewhat
Middle Passage
• Crowded, unsanitary conditions
– Slaves rode on planks 66” x 15”
• only 20”– 25” of headroom
– Males chained together in pairs
– Kept apart from women and children
– High mortality rates
• One-third perish between capture and embarkation
Provisions for the Middle
Passage
• Slaves fed twice per day
– Poor and insufficient diet
•
•
•
•
•
Vegetable pulps, stews, and fruits
Denied meat or fish
Ten people eating from one bucket
Unwashed hands spread disease
Malnutrition, weakness, depression, death
Sanitation, Disease,
and Death
• Astronomically high before 1750
– Poor sanitation
• No germ theory prior to early 20th century
• Malaria, yellow fever, smallpox, dysentery
• After 1750
– Faster ships
– Hygiene and diet better understood
– Early forms of smallpox vaccinations
African Women on Slave
Ships
• Less protection against unwanted sexual
attention from European men
• African women worth half the price of African
men in the Caribbean markets
• Separation from male slaves made them easier
targets
• Historian Barbara Bush
– Middle passage horrors depressed sex drives
Middle Passage Statistics
• 10-16 million Africans forcibly transported across the
Atlantic from 1500-1900.
• 2 million died during the Middle Passage (10-15%)
• Another 15-30% dies during the march to the coast.
• For every 100 slaves that reached the New World,
another 40 died in Africa or during the Middle Passage.
Revolt Aboard a Slave Ship
Resistance and Revolt at Sea
• Uprisings were common
– Most rebellions before sailing
– Some preferred death to bondage
– Justification for harsh treatment by slavers
African Captives Thrown Overboard
Sharks followed the slave ships across the Atlantic!
Destination of Captives
• Caribbean
40%
• Brazil
40%
• Latin America
10%
• British North America 10%
Stage Three: Arrival in New
World, Auctions, and
Plantation Life
Stage Three
• Africans would be sold at auctions in the
Americas
• The ships’ captains would use the $ from
their sale to buy a 3rd cargo of raw
materials: sugar, spices or tobacco.
• They sold this for a further large profit in
Europe.
• In Europe, they would convert the raw
materials into finished product.
• When the slave ship
docked, the slaves
would be taken off the
ship and placed in a
pen
• There they would be
washed and their skin
covered with grease,
or sometimes tar, to
make them look
healthy (and therefore
more valuable)
• They would also be
branded with a hot
iron to identify them
as slaves
Arrival
Landing and Sale in the West
Indies
• Pre-sale
– Bathed and exercised
– Oiled bodies to conceal blemishes and
bruises
– Hemp plugs
Nineteenth-Century Engraving
This nineteenth-century engraving suggests the humiliation Africans
endured as they were subjected to physical inspections before being sold.
Seasoning
• Modify behavior and attitude
• Preparation for North American planters
Seasoning (cont.)
• Creoles
– slaves born in the Americas
– worth three times price of unseasoned Africans
• Old Africans
– Lived in the Americas for some time
• New Africans
– Had just survived the middle passage
• Creoles and Old Africans instruct New
Africans
Negros for
Sale?
• What is the first
thought you had
when you read
this?
• How would a
wealthy colonial
American have
looked at this?
• What would an
African think
when they saw
this?
Auctions
• Slaves were sold at
auctions
• Buyers physically
inspected the
slaves, to include
their teeth as an
indication of the
slave’s age
• Auctioneers had
slaves perform
various acts to
demonstrate their
physical abilities
Notice of a Slave Auction
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
First Slave Auction
New Amsterdam (Dutch New York City 17c)
Slave Auction in the Southern U. S.
Auctions
• There were 3 ways slaves were auctioned off:
1. Public Auctions:
- They put tar on the slaves to hide any sores
and cuts
- Slaves were inspected
- An auction to took place and the higher bidder
would get to purchase the slave.
- Bids were taken as long as an inch of a candle
burned.
- Slaves were branded
- Families were separated
- They were given a European name.
Inspection and Sale
Slave Master Brands
Auctions
2. Private Auctions:
- Similar to public auctions
- They were indoors and red markers would
be placed on the door to indicate an
auction.
Auctions
3. A Scramble:
- They would take place on the docks or
on the deck of the ship
- There would be a fixed price per head
- Slave owners would go in and grab who
they wanted to purchase.
Auctions
• American born slaves who had skills were
the most expensive
• African born slaves were less $, as they
had to be “broken in”
• Age, sex and skills determined the cost
• Slaves with a lot of scars were considered
too rebellious
30 Lashes
Whipped Slave, early 19c
A Slave Lynching
Negro Hung Alive by Waist
The End of the Journey
• Survival
– One-third died
• Men died at a greater rate than women
– Adapted to new foods
– Learned a new language
• Creole dialect well enough to obey commands
– Psychological ~ no longer suicidal
• Africans retained culture despite the hardships
and cruel treatment
• Created bonds with shipmates that replaced
blood kinship
Volume: How Many Slaves?
Volume of the Slave Trade
• Late 15th and 16th Century… 2,000 Africans
exported each year
• 17th Century… 20,000 per year
• 18th Century… 55,000 per year
– 1780s… 88,000 per year
• All told, some 12 million Africans were
transported to the western hemisphere via the
Atlantic Slave Trade
• Another 4 million died resisting capture or during
captivity before arriving at their destination
Growth of African American
Population
1820
1.77 million
13% free
1830
2.33 million
14% free
1840
2.87 million
13% free
1850
3.69 million
12% free
1860
4.44 million
11% free
Effects: Forms of Resistance
to Slavery
Forms of Resistance
• Work slowly
• Sabotage
• Runaway
– “Maroons” gathered together and built self-governing
communities
• Revolt
– Slaves outnumbered the owners and supervisors so
revolt was always a threat
– While causing much destruction, revolts were usually
able to be suppressed because the owners had
access to arms, horses, and military forces
Slave Resistance:
Passive and Active Resistance
•
•
•
•
Breaking tools
Faking illness
Staging slowdowns
Committing acts of
arson and sabotage
• Running Away
• Underground Railroad
Saint-Dominique
• The only revolt to
successfully abolish
slavery as an institution
occurred on the French
sugar colony of Saint
Dominique in 1793
• The slaves declared
independence from
France, renamed the
country Haiti, and
established a selfgoverning republic in
1804
Francois-Dominique Toussaint was
one of the military leaders of the
Saint-Dominique revolt
Slave Revolts
• Late 18th Century slave
revolts erupted in
Guadeloupe, Grenada,
Jamaica, Surinam, Haiti,
Venezuela, Winward
Islands
• Within the United States
slave revolts were
common as well.
Richmond, Virginia,
Louisiana, Charleston,
South Carolina.
• Denmark Vesey
• The Amistad
• Nat Turner
Abolition Movement: Ending
Slave Trade and Institution of
Slavery
Ending the Slave Trade
1700’s – European thinkers
begin to oppose slavery
Abolition Movement –
movement to end slavery
1807 – Britain outlawed
trading
1834 – Britain outlawed
slavery
It continued in USA until
1865
The Ending of the Atlantic Slave
Trade
• Cruelties help end Atlantic slave trade
– English abolitionists
• Thomas Clarkson, William Wilberforce, and Granville
Sharp
• Moral crusade and economy less dependent on slave
trade
• Great Britain bans Atlantic slave trade in 1807
• Patrols African coast to enforce
• United States Congress outlaws slave trade in 1808
• Guinea and western central African kingdoms oppose
banning slave trade
Abolitionist Symbol, 19c
Abolitionists
• Former Slaves
– Olaudah Equiano
• Politicians
– William Wilberforce
• Religious Leaders
– John Wesley
• Revolutionaries
– Simon Bolivar
Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797)
1789  wrote and published, The Interesting
Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or
Gustavus Vassa the African.
Former Slaves: Olaudah Equiano
• Equiano was originally from
Benin and was captured by
slave raiders when he was 10
• Spent 21 years as a slave and
was able to save up enough
money to buy his freedom
• In 1789 he published The
Interesting Narrative of
Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus
Vassa, the African, Written by
Himself
• Sold the book throughout
Britain, undertaking lecture
tours and actively campaigning
to abolish the slave trade
Politicians: William Wilberforce
• English philanthropist
elected to Parliament
in 1780
• Delivered a stirring
abolitionist speech to
the House of
Commons in 1789
and repeatedly
introduced the
Abolition Bill until it
passed in 1807
Slavery Abolished in the Britain
Empire
• 1807 = The slave trade was abolished in the British
Empire, which meant that no slaves would be
carried from Africa in British ships.
• 1834 = Emancipation Act stated that slaves under
6 years old were freed; field hands over 6 had to
work for their owners for 6 more years; house
slaves had to work for 10 more years.
• Britain gave 20 million pounds in compensation to
former slave owners and slaves received nothing.
• 1838 all slaves were given complete freedom
• Slavery in the USA was not abolished until 1865
Religious Leaders: John Wesley
• Founder of the
Methodist Church
• Published
Thoughts Upon
Slavery in 1774
• On his deathbed
he was reading
Equiano’s
Narrative
Revolutionaries: Simon Bolivar
• Inspired by George
Washington and
Enlightenment ideas,
Bolivar took up arms
against Spanish rule in
1811
• Freed slaves who joined
his forces
• Provided constitutional
guarantees of free status
for all residents of Gran
Columbia (Venezuela,
Columbia, and Ecuador)
Timeline for Abolition of the Slave
Trade
• 1803: Denmark abolishes slave trade.
• 1807: Britain abolishes slave trade.
• 1807: U.S. passes legislation banning slave trade, to take effect 1808.
• 1810: British negotiate an agreement with Portugal calling for gradual
abolition of slave trade in the South Atlantic.
• 1815: At the Congress of Vienna, the British pressure Spain, Portugal,
France and the Netherlands to agree to abolish the slave trade (though
Spain and Portugal are permitted a few years of continued slaving to
replenish labor supplies).
• 1817: Great Britain and Spain sign a treaty prohibiting the slave trade:
Spain agrees to end the slave trade north of the equator immediately, and
south of the equator in 1820. British naval vessels are given right to
search suspected slavers. Still, loopholes in the treaty undercut its goals
and the slave trade continues strongly until 1830.
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
Timeline for Abolition of Slavery
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1813: Gradual emancipation adopted in Argentina.
1814: Gradual emancipation begins in Colombia.
1823: Slavery abolished in Chile.
1824: Slavery abolished in Central America.
1829: Slavery abolished in Mexico.
1831: Slavery abolished in Bolivia.
1833: Abolition of Slavery Act passed in Britain which
results in complete emancipation by 1838.
• 1842: Slavery abolished in Uruguay.
• 1848: Slavery abolished in all French and Danish colonies.
• 1851: Slavery abolished in Ecuador.
Timeline for Abolition of Slavery
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1854: Slavery abolished in Peru and Venezuela.
1863: Emancipation Proclamation issued in the U.S.
1863: Slavery abolished in all Dutch colonies.
1865: Slavery abolished in the U.S. as a result of
the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution and
the end of the Civil War.
1871: Gradual emancipation initiated in Brazil.
1873: Slavery abolished in Puerto Rico.
1886: Slavery abolished in Cuba.
1888: Slavery abolished in Brazil.
1960s: Slavery abolished in Saudi Arabia and
Angola
Emancipation Proclamation
• Issued by President Lincoln after
the Federal victory at Antietam
• “That on the first day of January,
in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and
sixty-three, all persons held as
slaves within any State or
designated part of a State, the
people whereof shall then be in
rebellion against the United
States, shall be then,
thenceforward, and forever
free…”
Impact of Emancipation Proclamation on
Confederate Diplomatic Efforts
• “… the feeling against slavery in England
is so strong that no public man there dares
extend a hand to help us… There is no
government in Europe that dares help us
in a struggle which can be suspected of
having for its result, directly or indirectly,
the fortification or perpetuation of slavery.
Of that I am certain”
– William Yancey, Confederate politician
Why did the slave trade end?
Industrialization
Less
Need for
Slaves
Slave Exports and Profits
• Early 18th Century - 36,000 per year
• During 1780’s - 80,000 per year
• Between 1740-1810 - 60,000 captives/year on
average.
• 17th Century - slave sold in the Americas for
about $150\
• Slave trade illegal in Britain in 1807, US 1808,
France 1831, Spain 1834.
• Once declared illegal prices went much higher.
1850s prime field hand $1200 - $1500 (about
$18,00 in 1997 dollars).
Effects/Impact: Legacy of
Slavery
Legacy of Slavery
Agriculture
Rice
Sweet Potatoes
Herding
Basketry
Working Style
(cooperative labor)
Planting (heel to toe)
Food
Spices (red pepper,
sesame, cajun)
Okra, black eyed peas
Rice
Dishes
Gumbo, jambalaya
Ash and hot cakes
Sweet potato pie
Music
Banjo
Drum
Blues/Jazz
Call and response
Spirituals
Religion
Call and response patterns
Emotional services
Multiple spirits and souls
Voodoo
Tales and Words
Trickster takes (Anansi
the Spider, Brer Rabbit,
Bugs Bunny)
Words like bogus, bug,
phony, yam, tote, gumbo,
tater, jamboree, jazz.
Creole Language
Impact of Slave Trade in Africa
• Mixed
– 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
– 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
“Door of No Return” on
Goree Island off the
coast of Senegal
Impact of Slave Trade in Africa
• The Atlantic Slave Trade
deprived Africa of about
16 million people and the
continuing Islamic slave
trade consumed another
several million
• Overall the African
population rose thanks
partly to the introduction
of more nutritious food
from the Americas
Peanuts were one of several crops
introduced to Africa from the
Americas
Impact of Slave Trade in Africa
• The slave trade distorted African sex ratios
– Approximately 2/3 of all exported slaves were male
• Slavers preferred young men between the ages
of 14 and 35 to maximize investment potential
and be suitable for hard labor
• The sexual imbalance in some parts of Africa
such as Angola encouraged polygamy and
caused women to take on duties that had
previously been the responsibility of men
Impact of Slave Trade in Africa
• The slave trade
brought firearms to
such African societies
as Asante, Dahomey,
and Oyo and this
increased violence
• In the 18th Century,
Dahomey expanded
rapidly, absorbed
neighboring societies,
and fielded an army
that was largely a
slave-raiding force
African Diaspora
• The slave trade sent millions of
Africans overseas this created a
scattering of individuals
• Survivors struggled to hold on to their
culture
• African people and their culture of food,
music, dance, and tradition was spread
across a wide area.
African Diaspora
• Obviously, the main contribution slaves brought
to the western hemisphere was an incredible
amount of labor, without which the prosperous
new societies could not have developed
• However they brought other contributions as
well:
– Slaves built hybrid cultural traditions made up of
African, European, and American elements
– Influenced language by creating tongues that drew on
several African and European languages
Gullah
• For several reasons, Africans,
both as slaves and free, enjoyed
a relative amount of selfsufficiency in the Sea Islands off
of South Carolina
• Their culture maintained much of
its original characteristics as it
encountered American culture
• For example, most of the Gullah
vocabulary is of English origin,
but the grammar and major
elements of pronunciation come
from a number of West African
languages
Gullah
• beat on ayun: “mechanic”; literally, “beat-on-iron”
• troot ma-wt: “a truthful person”; literally, “truth mouth”
• hush ma-wt: “hush mouth”; literally, “hush mouth”
• sho ded: “cemetery”; literally, “sure dead”
• tebl tappa: “preacher”; literally, “table-tapper”
• ty oonuh ma-wt: “Hush, stop talking”; literally, “Tie your
mouth”
• krak teet: “to speak”; literally, “crack teeth”
• i han shaht pay-shun: “He steals”; literally, “His hand is
short of patience”
African Diaspora
• Impacted on cuisine by
introducing African foods to
Caribbean and American
societies
– For example, combined African
okra with European-style sautéed
vegetables and American shellfish
to make gumbo
• Introduced rice cultivation to
tropical and subtropical regions
• Fashioned distinctive crafts such
as pottery and baskets
Sea Island basket
African Diaspora
• Many slaves were either Christians when they
left Africa or converted to Christianity after their
arrival in the western hemisphere
• Their Christianity was not exactly like European
Christianity and made considerable room for
African traditions
– Associated African deities with Christian saints
– Relied heavily on African rituals such as drumming,
dancing, and sacrificing animals
– Preserved their belief in spirits and supernatural
powers and made use of magic, sorcery, witchcraft,
and spirit possession