Forms of Slavery

• Africans were enslaved by Muslims for being nonbelievers of Islam– Transported across Sahara Desert to East African

coast and ended up in North Africa or the Middle East

• African tribes enslaved other tribes due to warfare, crimes, kidnapping, debt, and self-enslavement– Slaves were gathered for shipment to the markets

in the north and the west

• Slavery in the Middle East and Africa

Slavery Defined• A form of exploitation• Slaves were property• Outsiders who were alien by origin• Coercion (force) can be used at will• Their labor was at complete disposal of

master• No rights to sexuality or reproduction• Slave status was inherited unless by provision

African Presence in the Americas• 11 million Africans transported14-35 age• driven by labor shortage due to diseases that

ravaged native populations• supplied by preexisting slave markets on West

African coast– 1st trading forts established by Portugal

• began in 16th c. in Spanish America, 17th c. in British America

• Peak occurred in 18th century6 million slaves arrived in Americas

This eighteenth-century print shows bound African captives being forced to a slaving port. It was largely African middlemen who captured slaves in the interior and marched them to the coast.North Wind Picture Archives

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trans-Atlantic Slave TradeTrade

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trans-Atlantic Slave TradeTrade

The Middle Passage

Slave ShipSlave ShipSlave ShipSlave Ship

““Middle Passage”Middle Passage”

““Coffin” Position Coffin” Position Below DeckBelow Deck

““Coffin” Position Coffin” Position Below DeckBelow Deck

African Captives African Captives Thrown OverboardThrown OverboardAfrican Captives African Captives

Thrown OverboardThrown Overboard

Sharks followed the slave Sharks followed the slave ships!ships!

Diagrams of Slave Ships

Slave Dancer

• Describe the conditions within the slave ships from the reading.

• 8-12 weeks was length of voyage from W. Africa to Caribbean

• To load a ship of 500 slaves could take months– Slaves held in barracoons or in ship for months

• The Daniel and Henry (slave ship)– Loaded first slave on April 11, 1700– Landed in Jamaica on Nov. 17, 1700

• If still alive, a slave boarded in April would have spent 32 weeks chained in the hold

Survival Rate

• 452 slaves loaded on the Daniel and Henry• 246 survived and landed in Jamaica• 206 died in transit• A loss of 45.5%• The average death rate was 20% for the

Middle Passage

18th century Slave Trade• Majority of slaves sent to West Indies and

Brazil• 10% go to N. American colonies

Treatment of slaves

• Many slaves tried to jump overboard or starve themselves

• Speculum orisdevice used by captains to force slaves’ jaws open to feed

Slavery InstrumentsWhy do you think the slave captains forced the slaves to eat?

For what other activities do you think crew members might have used torture devices to punish slaves?

The Account of William Snelgrave

• Explain how the crew guarded against slave revolt?

• From the perspective of the slaves, what are the obstacles to success and consequences if you should fail

Arrival in Americas

• Slaves were checked for disease by a doctor on the ship

• Sent to shore to be counted, held, bathed, clothed, and fed to prepare for sale

• At public auction, slaves would be inspected by buyers for physical ailments

• New owner’s name often branded on slave

Impressions of the Valongo Slave Market

• What similarities existed between the barracoons of Africa and the Valongo Slave Market?

The Plantation System• Large, rural estates

– Slavery needed for efficient and labor-consuming production of cash crops

• Main production of sugar, tobacco, cotton, and cotton for export

• Plantation owners imported all finished or manufactured goods consumed on plantation from Europe

Slaves Working in a Slaves Working in a Brazilian Sugar MillBrazilian Sugar MillSlaves Working in a Slaves Working in a Brazilian Sugar MillBrazilian Sugar Mill

Sugar was both raised and processed on plantations such as this one in Brazil.© Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS

The Silver Mines of Potosí. Worked by conscripted Indian laborers under extremely harsh conditions, these mines provided Spain with a vast treasure in silver.Hulton/Corbis-Bettmann

The Experience of Slavery• “seasoned” slaves worth more than those newly

arrived• maintenance of ethnic bonds in the New World—

African language, religion• Generally accepted that all the slaves in plantation

societies led difficult lives with little variation • Some slaves mixed Christianity with African religions• One of factors that continued slavery was racist

ideology

Slaves on the plantations of the American South were the chattel property of their masters, and their lives were grim. Some artists sought to disguise this harsh reality by depicting the lighter moments of slave society as in this scene of slaves dancing.Getty Images Inc.—Hulton Archive Photos

Slaves in the City

• What do we learn about slaves’ lives in the city and on plantations?

• Slaves were sold, traded, and rented based on the slaves’ skill. Identify six different occupations fulfilled by slave labor.

• What steps were to be taken if a slave was stolen, found, or a runaway?

The Abolition of Slavery

Factors 1. Abolition movement led by Christians and

humanitarians in N. America and Europe1. Wrote anti-slavery books and lobbied gov’ts

2. Changing economy of Europe and America– Industrialization=no need for slaves

3. Aversion to the slave trade as a result of the Enlightenment and emphasis on individual liberty

4. Opposition to the slave trade and slavery from Africans and slaves

4. Slave revolt (1791) in St. Domingue (Haiti) drove French out and created a black republic in the Americas

4. Fear of slave revolts frightened whites and contributed to the end of the trade

The End of Slavery• Britain was the first major slaving country to

outlaw the trade in January 1807– Royal Navy patrolled African coast for slave ships– Freed over 160,000 slaves from ships

• U.S. abolished importation of slaves in 1808• Outlawed in British colonies in 1834• French outlawed slavery in 1848• U.S. outlawed in 1865Amendment ?• Brazil and Cuba maintained slavery until 1888

Review Qs

1. What was the nature of slavery in America?2. How was it linked to the economies of the

Americas, Europe, and Africa?3. Why was the plantation system

unprecedented?4. How did the plantation system contribute to

the inhumane treatment of slaves?