BELLRINGER:DO YOU THINK OUR WORLD WOULD BE AS ADVANCED TODAY, WITHOUT THE USE OF SLAVERY?

THE AGE OF EXPLORATION

Ch. 6-2 Africa in the Age of Transition

THE SLAVE TRADE In the 15th Century the market for

African slaves was Southwest Asia.Used as domestic servants

The demand for slaves rose dramatically with the discovery of the Americas.Due to the planting of sugar cane

SUGAR CANE Cane sugar was introduced to Europe

for Asia during the Middle Ages. During the 16th Century, Plantations

(large agricultural estates) were set up along the coast of Brazil.

Growing cane sugar requires much labor.Native American population to small to

provide needed labor.African Slaves shipped to Brazil and the

Caribbean to work on the Plantations.

SUGAR CANE

GROWTH OF THE SLAVE TRADE 1518 – Spanish ship carried first

boatload of African slaves to the America’s in 1518.

The trade grew tremendously in the next two centuries.Becomes part of the New World economy’s

Triangular Trade.

TRIANGULAR TRADE The Pattern of the Triangular Trade

connected Europe, Africa, and Asia, and the American Continents.

1. European merchants carried goods (guns, cloth) to Africa where they traded for slaves.

2. Slaves were shipped to and sold in the Americas.

3. European Merchants then bought tobacco, molasses, sugar, and cotton for sale in Europe.

TRIANGULAR TRADE

THE SLAVE TRADE 275,000 African slaves were exported

during the 16th Century. Over 1 million were shipped in the 17th

Century, and 6 million in the 18th Century.

Ten million slaves were shipped from Africa to the Americas.

MIDDLE PASSAGE Main reason for high numbers was the

death rate. Middle Passage: the journey of slaves

from Africa to the AmericasThe middle portion of the triangular trade

route.

THE MIDDLE PASSAGE

THE MIDDLE PASSAGE

DEATH RATES Many slaves died on the Journey. Death rates higher for newly arrived

slaves than those born in the Americas.Slaves had little or no immunity to diseases

SOURCES OF SLAVES Before the 15th Century , most slaves in

Africa were prisoners of war. Europeans bought slaves from African

merchants in return for:Guns, Gold, or other European goods.

AFRICAN RULERS BECOME CONCERNED…. King Afonso of Congo sent letter to

the king of Portugal 1526 stating:“So great is the corruption that our country

is being completely depopulated. These protests were ignored, and many

local rulers profited from the slave trade.

**Some rulers sent raiders into helpless villages in search of victims**

EFFECTS OF THE SLAVE TRADE Depopulated areas . Deprived African Communities of their

youngest and strongest men and women.

Increased local warfareTraders and rulers competed with each

other and raided neighbors for slaves.

“ From us they have learned strife, quarreling, drunkenness, trickery, theft, unbridled desire for what is not one’s own, misdeeds unknown to them before, and the accursed lust for gold” Dutch Slave Trader

POLITICAL AND SOCIAL STRUCTURES European influences did not extend

beyond slave trade in the coastal regions.Exceptions are South Africa & Mozambique

Traditional African Political Systems continued Monarchy common by the Sixteenth

CenturyHighly CentralizedKing regarded as almost divine

FOREIGN INFLUENCES African religious life was influenced by

foreigners.The main impact was from Islam.Dominant in North Africa and spread

southward into the states of West Africa. Christianity was established only in

South Africa and Ethiopa.

Map Quiz Get out a blank sheet of paper and

number to fifteen.

Word Bank

North America

South America

Australia

Asia Europe Africa

Antarctica Atlantic Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Arctic Ocean Indian Ocean Arabian Peninsula

Mediterranean

Sea

Caribbean Sea

Gulf of Mexico