The Atlantic Slave Trade
The Atlantic slave trade was a reflection of the increases in a economic activity resulting from the Industrial Revolution. It resulted in the transport of between 10 million and 12 million Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas from the 16th to the 19th century. The Atlantic Slave Trade was the second stage of three stages of the so-called triangular trade that took goods from Europe’s factories to Africa and the Americas in return for raw materials.
First leg: Arms, textiles, and wine were shipped from Europe to Africa.
Second leg: Slaves were then transported from Africa to the Americas
Third leg: Sugar and coffee and cotton were exported to Europe from the Americas.
Activity 1. Understanding the triangular trade
Questions
Draw a labelled map of the three stages of the Atlantic slave trade. Include the main cargo for each of the three stages.
Explain the meaning of the 'triangular trade'.
From the PowerPoint: how many slaves were traded to the Americas?
From the PowerPoint: How many went to the USA?
Did Africans 'sell their own people'?
What were the jobs that Africa slaves did in the America's?
Where did they go?
Before 1600, the majority of slaves were sent to the Caribbean and South America. In the 1700’s, however, demand for slave labour rose sharply with the growth of sugar plantations in the Caribbean and tobacco plantations in the USA. Up to 3 million slaves were transported to the Americas during the 1700’s, according to historians’ estimates.
England gets rich
A visitor to Liverpool in England (1798) commented that 'The chief business is the trade in negroes ...In looking at this beautiful town, its port and its walk, I certainly saw all the signs of great wealth.
'My mother and I were separated when I was but an infant--before I knew her as my mother. Frequently, before the child has reached its twelfth month, its mother is taken from it, and hired out on some farm a considerable distance off, and the child is placed under the care of an old woman, too old for field labour' (Fredrick Douglas. Narrative of an American Slave)
Questions
Where did the majority of slaves go before 1600?
Where did they go after 1600?
The development of which industries caused an increase in the demand for slaves in the Caribbean and the USA?
Why were African slaves used for Caribbean sugar plantations? (Hint: Climate)
Why do you think the slave owners removed children from their families and also separated slaves who spoke the same language?
The impact on Africa
The slave trade had devastating effects in Africa. Warlords and tribes were encouraged to trade in slaves and this resulted in civil breakdown, lawlessness and violence.
Women in their childbearing years and young men who normally would have been starting families were more desirable for the slave markets and they made a large percentage of the people taken captive.
The European slavers usually left behind persons who were elderly, disabled, or otherwise dependent—groups who were least able to contribute to the economic health of their societies.
Depopulation and regular periods of crisis made economic and agricultural development almost impossible in the regions of western Africa that were affected.
Questions
Why do you think the slavers preferred young fit healthy Africans?
How did this preference impact African societies?
How did the slave trade impact long term development in West Africa?
Background briefing: Slaves on slavery
The morning came too soon for my poor mammy and us. While she was dressing us for the sale she said sadly - I shall never forget it! - ‘See, I’m shrouding my poor children; what a task for a mother!’ She then called Miss Betsey, our mistress, to take leave of us. ‘I’m going to carry my little chickens to market.’ (These were her very words.) ‘Take your last look of them; maybe you’ll see them no more.’
With my sisters we reached Hamble Town about four o’clock in the afternoon. We followed mother to the market-place, where she placed us in a row against a large house, with our backs to the wall and our arms folded in front. I stood first, Hannah next to me, then Dinah; and our mother stood beside us, crying. My heart throbbed with grief and terror so violently that I pressed my hands tightly across my breast, but I couldn’t keep it still, and it continued to leap as though it would burst out of my body.
But who cared for that? Did any of the by-standers think of the pain that wrung the hearts of the negro woman and her young ones? No, no! They weren’t all bad, I dare say, but slavery hardens white people’s hearts towards the blacks.
Testimony - Mary Prince
2. The Atlantic Slave Trade - Source Analysis
The Atlantic passage, or Middle Passage, usually to Brazil or an island in the Caribbean, was notorious for its brutality and for the overcrowded unsanitary conditions on slave ships, Hundreds of Africans were packed tightly into tiers below decks for a voyage of about 5,000 miles (8,000 km) that could last from a few weeks to several months.
They were chained together, and the low ceilings did not permit them to sit upright. The heat was intolerable, and the oxygen levels became so low that candles would not burn. Because crews feared insurrection, the Africans were allowed to go outside on the upper decks for only a few hours each day.
Analysing primary and secondary sources helps us develop an understanding of the period we are investigating.
Always use full sentences and include the question in your answer
For example: This is supported by Jones who states that 'History students would be more popular at parties' if they used this method. (Source 3)
Use quotes, dates and descriptions of the source to support your response.
Ask yourself the following when analysing the source:
What is the origin of the source?
Who is the author/ creator of the source?
Is the source credible?
Does the source have a bias?
Source 1. Ocean transport
Refer to the source to describe the conditions on the transport ships for the slaves.(2)
How would you use Source 2 as evidence of how the ship owners ensured a profit on the transport of slaves to the Americas? (2)
Source 2. Fifty Years in Chains, or, The life of an American Slave. 1860
'In the spring of 1811, when I arrived at a large plantation in North Carolina, the slaves were driven to work from sunrise to sunset. The bitterness that individuals suffered frequently showed through their faces and scars. The fields were filled with dark shadows of workers, picking up cotton. They were bound with other slaves in neck irons, handcuffs, and chains.'
Use information from the source to describe conditions on the slave plantations (3)
Source 3. Fifty Years in Chains, or, The life of an American Slave. 1860
'In the spring of 1811, when I arrived at a large plantation in North Carolina, the slaves were driven to work from sunrise to sunset. The bitterness that individuals suffered frequently showed through their faces and scars. The fields were filled with dark shadows of workers, picking up cotton. They were bound with other slaves in neck irons, handcuffs, and chains.'
Use information from the source to describe conditions on the slave plantations (3)
Source 4. Virginia General Assembly declaration, 1705
'All servants imported and brought into the Country ... who were not Christians in their native Country ... shall be accounted and be slaves. All Negro, mulatto and Indian slaves within this dominion ... shall have the legal status of real estate. If any slave resists his master ... correcting such slave, and shall happen to be killed in such correction ... the master shall be free of all punishment ... as if such accident never happened.'
What was the legal status of slaves in Virginia in 1705? (1)
What would happen to a slave owner who killed one of his slaves? (1)
Source 5. ‘Will be sold. Valuable Slaves.’ Poster advertising slave auction 1812.
Describe the language the seller is using to advertise his slaves. (2)
How does the poster portray the conditions of slaves on the plantations? (1)
How do you know the poster in Source 4 is a primary source? (2)
3. Ending the slave trade
The Abolition movement - Ending the slave trade
The decision to bring the practice of slavery to an end was divisive. Britain had been engaged in slavery since the sixteenth century, economic prosperity was based on products grown by slaves, including cotton, sugar and tobacco. The British Empire relied on these products in order to trade in a global market.
The fight to end the slave trade was a long drawn out battle which affected society, politics and the economy.
Activity 3. Write a letter to your local MP.
In an empathetic writing task you put yourself in the position of somebody alive at the time and write from their point of view.
For this task, you will need to imagine yourself as a young person in England, who is horrified by the trade in human beings.
Write a letter to your local MP outlining your concerns about the trade and the reasons it needs to be stopped.
Include the following points in your letter:
What is the Atlantic slave trade, what are the reasons for the trade?
Include a map that shows the countries where slaves are being sent
Why do people own slaves?
Why do people think they should be allowed to own slaves?
Outline the reasons you think the trade should be stopped - Include examples of the conditions that the slaves must endure on the boats and on the plantations
“‘Slavery is such an atrocious debasement of human nature, that its very abolition, if not performed with solicitous care, may sometimes open a source of serious evils.’”
Abolition
On the 28th August 1833, a very important act received its Royal Assent. The Slavery Abolition Law was passed in the United Kingdom.
On December 18, 1865, the 13th Amendment was adopted as part of the United States Constitution. The amendment officially abolished slavery, and immediately freed more than 100,000 enslaved people, from Kentucky to Delaware.
