The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

The History Of Slavery Slavery became popular in

Europe during the renaissance Europeans opened trade routes

with western Africa and took advantage of existing slave trading networks

In Africa, people became slaves through warfare, criminal behaviour and debt

However, African slaves were rarely subjected to brutality and back-breaking labour – in most cases, slaves were treated well and accepted as part of the family

The Europeans first took slaves to act as domestic servants for wealthy households

The Need for Slaves Slavery becomes

economically profitable when explorers began to build colonies in the new world

Exporting goods from the new world becomes a major source of profit

Plantation economies were devised to harvest Sugar Cane, Tobacco, Cotton and coffee

These “cash crops” were in high demand globally

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Europeans turn to African slaves

as warfare and disease ravage local populations

In 1562, Great Britain begins purchasing slaves in Africa to export to colonies in the new world – salve trading grows exponentially from this point on

The Trans-Atlantic slave trade is the biggest forced movement of people in the worlds history

Historians estimate that 11 million people were exported from West and Central Africa between 1451 - 1869

The Middle Passage The majority of Slaves are taken from west Africa

(present day Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast etc) The demand for slaves was so high that slave traders

resorted to kidnapping people The Middle Passage was the journey from Africa to

the New World It was infamous because 20% of slaves died in route The trip could last between 1 and 9 months Slaves suffered through malnutrition, disease and

physical torture Slaves were kept below deck, shackled and

sometimes placed in cages where they were forced to eat, sleep and perform bodily functions

Slaves in the New World Slaves sent to the new world worked as “Domestics”

or “Field Slaves” Slaves were considered “Chattel”, and had the legal

rights according to Farm animals To set an example and discourage resistance, slaves

would often be “Seasoned” Seasoning meant subjecting slaves to horrific and

brutal treatment in order to shock them into submission

Female slaves were most prized because of their ability to reproduce

The condition of slavery was passed on from mother to child

Slave Resistance Any form of resistance was met with extreme brutality However, there are cases of slave uprisings

throughout the new world The most common form of fighting back was “Passive

Resistance” Slaves would break tools, sabotage crops and move

as slow as possible Some women went so far as to perform abortions or

murder new born children to resist their masters Slaves were often forced to whip each other –

however slaves often developed techniques so that it appeared they were hurting the person without even making contact

The Abolition Movement It is ironic that the height of slavery took

place during the enlightenment However, some religious groups and

educated people saw slavery as evil and an abolition movement slowly grew throughout the old and new world

Slavery was outlawed in Canada in 1793, and the rest of the British Empire in 1833

Slavery lasted longest in the United States and was a major cause of the US Civil War

Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was written in 1863

However, the greatest reason for the decline of slavery was the industrial revolution, plantation economies were no longer very profitable in the 19th century