history -slave trade 1- triangular trade

reasons for atlantic slave trade

-demand for sugar increasing, more affordable, sweetened/preserved food

-spices/sugar from india/other areas from east interrupted by turkish control of middle east

-caribbean alternative, ideal conditions for growing sugar cane, needed many labourers

-native people died out from overwork/european diseases

-european workers couldn’t hot climate

-suitable workforce most easily acquired endlaving africans

-racist ideas made british public think ok

-church involved in slavery- looked morally acceptable

structure of atlantic slave trade

-britain sent goods including guns, cloth, iron textiles, jewellery, alcohol to africa

-goods exchanged for captives, guns allowed africans to force own people into slavery

-slaves transported across atlantic ocean to caribbean

-slaves most expensive/risky investment as vulnerable to death/disease/injury/escape/natural disasters

-ships ensured, as would cargo, over 300 slave ships sank

-raw materials like sugar, coffee, cotton, tobacco transported from caribbean to britain, processed in britain for great profit

slave capture

-europeans afraid of getting diseases/unfamiliar with land, relied on african middle men to capture slaves

-middle men captured individuals, transported to coast

-often captured many miles inland and forced to walk to west coast, chained together in a ‘coffle’

-thousands of africans died on slave march

-kingdom of dahomey powerful african tribe, believed supplied up to 20% off all slaves sent across

-dahomey tribe already powerful, more power through trading slaves

-slave trade not successful/profitable without cooperation of africans

slave factories

-once at coast slaves kept in military forts called factories, managed by a ‘factor’ or trader

-around 45% (820,000) of slaves died here, conditions very poor

-most died from diseases caught here-malaria

-at least 30 factories along west coast africa

-cramped/overcrowded

-held for months

-chained together day and night

middle passage

-typically 3-6 weeks some 4 months

-branded with hot irons and chained

-heads shaven and stripped naked

-no more than 5ft headroom

forced to sit in body waste for days

-made to dance on deck - humiliating

-committed suicide throwing themselves into sea

-disease common

-rape and abuse of women

auctions and seasoning

-process of seasoning: washed and shaved, rubbed with palm oil to disguise wounds and sores

-sometimes seasoning lasted years, 5 million died in seasoning camps

-slaved who were whipped had scars covered by tar, buyers didn’t want disobedient, defiant slaves, scars evidence of this

-two auctions: slave scramble (rush of buyers grab slave they want) auction (sold to highest bidder)

-slaves not sold known as refuse slaves, sometimes left to die at ports

-slaves poked and prodded, teeth checked, naked while examined, humiliated

-ripped from family