How do these two maps show a change over time

regarding the slave trade?

Benin

Political System•Absolute Monarch called Oba (Chief)• Uzama – Group of officials (bureaucracy)•Ewuare the Great•Independent city-states joined together

Economic System•Already established before Europeans•Known for bronze statues•Economy was based on spices, ivory, and textiles•Began to exchange slaves for guns but tried to limit slave trade – increased due to European pressure and need for weapons

Benin

Influence of Europeans•First contact in 1485 – Portuguese – Traded ivory, pepper, palm oil•Increased slave trade began to overshadow other industry•Guns increased Benin power in the region

Impact of Slave Trade

•Kingdom disintegrated in 1700s as a result of civil wars and rulers’ greed over the slave trade.

•Britain wanted to control rubber production in 1860s

KongoPolitical System•Absolute Monarch

called ManiKongo (king)•King Afonso 1456-

1542•Claimed Divine Right

Economic System•Traded pottery and

iron goods•Agriculture – corn introduced in 1600s

from Americas•Slave trade – for guns

with Portuguese.

Kongo Influence of Europeans

•Christianity is spread – King converts – state religion•Guns for slaves impact power of Kongo•Portuguese interference in political, economic, religious concerns – Pope

Impact of Slave Trade•Merchants offset ruling families

•Corrupting influence of slave trade – civil wars and assassinations

•Wars with Portugal and Dutch - Kingdom falls by 1800s – Divided into small states.

AsantePolitical System•Absolute Monarch called Asantehene•Osei Tutu•Centralized – elected chief•Golden Stool of Kumasi

Economic System•Traditionally dealt in gold and kola nuts•Gold allowed them to buy slaves•Increased power due to slave trade – received guns•2/3 of exports were slavesFilm Clip

AsanteInfluence of Europeans

•Portuguese contact with Asante at Fort of El Mina•Gun / slave trade

Impact of Slave Trade•Power declined with end of slave trade in 1800s•Use of slave trade provided rulers with great wealth and power –led to conflict with European•Fell to British in 1901 after a long war

Video Recap

FORCED IMMIGRATION

“Humanity is divided into two -- the masters and the slaves.”

~Aristotle

• The potential wealth to be made from slavery led to the triangular trade between

________________________________________.

The Transatlantic Slave Trade

Europe, Africa and the Americas.

• Europeans were able to sell manufactured goods in exchange for ____________

and luxury items.

raw materials

A Merchant Slaving Vessel: The Henrietta Marie

Let’s follow the journey of a typical slave ship…

First Stop!London!

The Port of London

The Henrietta Marie would start its journey in London, a thriving port built on the banks of the Thames River.

entrepreneurs

Trading Companies

•As the capital city, it was the center of social

and economic developments;

it was also the place in which _____________ would invest money in __________________ to

make money.

What ventures could a wealthy man like me invest in? Hmmmm.

Investors in the Slave TradeBy 1650, most of the coastal states in Europe had possessions

in the Americas.

Graph of countries participating in the slave trade

1. Around what year was the Slave Trade at its peak?

2. Which country continued the Slave Trade the longest? Why?

The Crew of a Merchant Slave Ship

Men who could not find other work often gravitated to ports such as London where they signed on to escape

their economic problems.

Crews of slavers tended to be desperate, violent men.

Former slave ship master Reverend John Newton (B.1725) wrote about the men aboard the merchant slavers:

"We are for the most part supplied with the refuse and dregs of the nation. The prisons and glass houses supply us with large

quotas of boys impatient of their parents and masters, or already ruined by some untimely vice and for the most part

devoid of principles."

A Merchant Slaving Vessel: The Henrietta Marie

Three-masted,

square-sterned

vessel, about 60

feet long.

Small ship, capable of holding 200 slaves in her cargo area.

Stepped decks, built on many levels to accommodate the different cargoes of the transatlantic trade route.

To Africa!

Benin

•When Europeans arrived in the late 15th century, there were established states

throughout West Africa.

Arriving in

Africa!

Port cities along the coast were controlled by Portuguese,

Dutch, English.

• West Africa was divided into states

with different rulers governing different

areas.

• Some African ethnic groups read and wrote in Arabic,

others had strong oral (speaking and

singing) traditions, and religious

practices.

Slavery in Africa Powerful African leaders met with

European Traders from the Henrietta Marie.

1. If you were an African tribal leader, what would you want in exchange for slaves? Why?

Slavery and War

• European _____were a popular trade item with the Africans. The coastal rulers who had access to _____ used them to control areas further inland.

Pewter, Iron bars, glass beads, guns and other goods were rare in Africa, where they could be sold for much more than in England or other

European countries.

gunsguns

Soon Africans were rounding up slaves in groups of one, two and three hundred for sale to the increasing number of

European vessels arriving in coastal ports.

Before Shipping

• Slaves captured or purchased in the African interior were often held in confinement for months.

• Some of these people had been wounded in battles, and others were exposed to smallpox, yellow fever, and other

deadly diseases.

Europeans were Middle Men

• Carried a cargo valued at about £827. • £4 per slave: Brought 206 slaves to Jamaica. • 190 slaves were recorded sold at Port Royal

Not Welcomed Inland! Did convert some kingdoms to Christianity (Kongo)Forbidden to alter African politics

The Henrietta Marie

To the Americas!

• The Middle Passage- The Journey from Africa to the New World faced by captive slaves – 1 leg of the triangular trade

• Ships were only supposed to transport 300 people but some carried 800 people

• Trek from Africa to the Americas lasted 2 to 4 months

Middle Passage

The “Cargo”

• By 1654, some 8,000-10,000 Africans each year were undergoing the Middle Passage.

•By 1750, the annual number stabilized at 60,000-70,000.

The Middle Passage

“If the Atlantic were to dry up it would reveal a scattered pathway of human bones marking the various routes of the

Middle Passage.”

• About 9 to 15 million Africans went on voyage:• 3 to 5 million perished before they even reached the Americas.

• The mortality rate averaged between 13 and 33 percent of the slaves and the crew.

Dangers of Middle Passage

Scurvy DysenteryGangrene Dehydration

Suicide DiseaseMalnutrition

Arrival in the Americas: The Henrietta Marie

The Native

Americans were

beginning to be

exterminated-due

to over working

and disease.

Land Ho!

Colonizers in the New World found a new source of labor...____________.

the Africans

Selling Slaves in the Caribbean

• With the first sighting of land, the captain of the Henrietta Marie would have ordered slaves on deck in small groups for fresh air and grooming To improve their appearance

for sale.

•Men were shaved, sores were dressed, and rations were improved as they approached their destination of Jamaica on May 18, 1700,

indicating that she spent almost fourteen weeks on the Middle Passage.

Get Your Workers Here!• Sold to the

highest bidder

• Slaves-washed and greased with tar or lard

• Judged by condition– Muscle– Teeth– Scratches

Profitability“No commerce in the world produces as

many advantages as that of the slave trade.”

~Colbert, Frenchman

Some believe the slave trade was the major reason for the rise of capitalism and the Industrial Revolution.

The Triangle Trade

SUGAR, TOBACCO

SLAVES

GU

NS

, RU

M, G

OO

DS

• As early as 1522, the first notable slave revolt broke out in the Spanish colony of Hispaniola (now

Haiti).

•In the Caribbean they were known as "Maroons" and lived

in the hills, using guerrilla warfare to _____ other slaves and steal necessary arms and

equipment.

free

Rebellions in the Caribbean

Indentured Servants• White indentured servants were another exploited group of people who, in

return for their passage to the Americas or the Caribbean, agreed to work for their sponsor.

• Indentured servants were at the mercy of their master: they were unpaid and had to do whatever they were told.

• They were bound to their master for a set period of time, _________________, after which they were set free, and could expect to receive a small tract of land from their master.

usually five years

The European Sweet Tooth

• Most Europeans had never tasted sugar before the economic successes

of the transatlantic trade made the Caribbean product

readily available.

• England was a major consumer as early as 1660. For a century and a half,

sugar remained the most valuable and largest import,

overtaken only by _______ in the 1820s.cotton

The Henrietta Marie

•The profits from the sale of slaves enabled the Henrietta Marie to load West Indian goods for her voyage home to England.

• Sugar was the main commodity and cargo entries reveal that she was carrying 81 hogsheads (large barrels) of muscovado sugar.

Back to!London!

• Removal of millions of African men and women from their homeland• Economic dependence on Europe, devastating effects when trade was outlawed• Susceptibility to European imperialism