African American Studies: Transatlantic Slave Trade, Labor, Law, and Culture

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards reviewing African explorers, transatlantic slave trade dynamics, labor systems, legal codes, African American culture, resistance, identity, and diaspora traditions across the Americas.

Ladinos

Africans who learned Spanish or Portuguese language and culture.

Atlantic creoles

Africans familiar with African and European cultures.

Social mobility

The ability to improve your position in society.

La Florida

Spanish territory that included Florida and nearby areas.

Conquistadores

Spanish conquerors who explored and took control of lands.

Free skilled workers and artisans

Free people who used special skills to earn a living.

Juan Garrido

A free African conquistador who explored Florida.

Estevanico

An enslaved African healer and translator who explored North America.

Senegambia and Angola

African regions where many enslaved Africans were taken from.

African-based cultural practices

African traditions and customs that continued in new places.

12.5 million people

The approximate number of Africans forced onto slave ships during the transatlantic slave trade.

Top five enslaving nations

The major countries involved in transporting enslaved Africans across the Atlantic.

Mortality dangers

The risk of death from disease, hunger, and harsh conditions.

Monetary incentives

Financial rewards that encouraged people to participate in the slave trade.

War captives

People captured during wars who could be sold into slavery.

Middle Passage

The forced journey of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean.

Coastal states

African states near the coast that participated in overseas trade.

Interior states

African states farther inland that were affected by slave-trading networks.

Slave narratives

Accounts describing the experiences of enslaved people.

Commodification

Treating people as objects or goods that can be bought and sold.

Hunger strikes

Refusing food as a form of protest.

90-day journey

A reference to the long and dangerous journey across the Atlantic.

Force-feed

To make someone eat against their will.

Slave ship diagrams

Drawings showing how enslaved people were crowded onto ships.

Raise awareness

Help people learn about an issue.

La Amistad

A Spanish slave ship involved in a revolt by enslaved Africans.

United States v. The Amistad

A Supreme Court case involving the Africans who rebelled aboard the ship.

Repurposed the iconography

Used familiar images or symbols for a different purpose.

36,000 known voyages

Recorded voyages connected to the transatlantic slave trade.

Slave auctions

Sales where enslaved people were forced to be sold.

Cotton gin

A machine that separated cotton fibers from seeds.

Second Middle Passage

The forced movement of enslaved people within the United States.

Large-scale cotton production

Growing cotton in large amounts, often using enslaved labor.

Skilled labor roles

Jobs that required special training or abilities.

Apprenticeship

Learning a trade or skill by working with an experienced person.

Domestic and agricultural work

Work inside homes and on farms.

Bound to institutions

Connected to or controlled by established systems.

Gang system

A labor system where enslaved people worked in groups under supervision.

Task system

A system where enslaved people were assigned specific tasks to finish.

Gullah culture

African American culture that developed in the coastal Lowcountry, preserving many African traditions.

U.S. economic interdependence

Different parts of the U.S. economy depended on one another.

National trade

The exchange of goods between different parts of a country.

Enslaved cultural practices

Traditions and customs maintained by enslaved people.

U.S. Constitution

The document that established the U.S. government.

13th Amendment

The amendment that abolished slavery in the United States, except as punishment for a crime.

Slave codes

Laws that controlled enslaved people and restricted their freedom.

Race-based chattel slavery

A system where people were treated as property because of race.

Code Noir

French colonial laws regulating slavery.

Código Negro

Spanish colonial laws regulating slavery.

Dependent racial divides

Racial divisions maintained through laws and social systems.

Anti-Black laws in free states

Laws that restricted the rights of free Black people.

South Carolina's 1740 Slave Code

Laws that restricted enslaved people's rights and controlled their behavior.

Stono Rebellion (1739)

An uprising by enslaved people in South Carolina.

Dred Scott Case (1857)

A Supreme Court case that denied citizenship to Black people under its ruling.

Call and response

A musical pattern where one person sings or speaks and others answer.

Double meaning of spiritual lyrics

Spiritual songs could express religious faith while also communicating hidden messages about freedom or escape.

Naming and self-identity

The words people use to describe themselves and their identity.

Decline in African-born population

A decrease in the number or percentage of African-born people.

Definition of African Americans

How the term African American is used to identify people of African descent in America.

American Colonization Society

An organization that promoted sending free Black Americans to Africa.

Black people's rejection of the term "African"

Some Black Americans rejected the label because they identified more with American society and their own communities.

Seminoles

An Indigenous people in Florida who had connections with Black freedom seekers.

Enslaved by Indigenous people

African Americans held in slavery by Indigenous enslavers.

Indigenous slave codes and patrols

Rules and patrols used to control enslaved people and capture those who escaped.

5 million Africans to Brazil

The approximate number of Africans forcibly transported to Brazil through the transatlantic slave trade.

Preservation of cultural practices in Brazil

The continuation of African traditions among Afro-Brazilian communities.

Capoeira and congada increased prominence in Brazil

African-derived martial arts and cultural traditions became important parts of Brazilian culture.

Difference in U.S./Brazil free/enslaved Black population ratio

The difference between the proportions of free and enslaved Black people in the United States and Brazil.