Copy of Slavery in the Americas 2025

Slavery

A system in which individuals are owned by others, treated as property, and forced to provide labor without compensation.

Atlantic Slave Trade

The transatlantic journey used to forcibly transport enslaved Africans to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries.

Middle Passage

The horrific voyage enslaved Africans endured while being transported across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas.

Domestic slavery

A form of slavery in which individuals are kept for domestic purposes, often involving household labor.

Arab Slave Trade

The trading of enslaved Africans to the Arab world, occurring from the 7th century to the 19th century.

Benin

An African kingdom known for its involvement in the slave trade before European colonization.

Manumission

The process by which a slave owner frees their enslaved individual.

Abolitionist Movement

A campaign to end slavery and the slave trade that gained momentum in the 19th century.

Resistance to Slavery

The active and passive forms of protest and defiance enslaved people employed against their conditions.

Emancipation Proclamation

A declaration by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 freeing slaves in the Confederate states.

Plantation slavery

A system of slavery primarily used on large agricultural estates where crops such as sugar, cotton, and tobacco were produced.

Freedman

A person who has been freed from slavery.

Fugitive Slave

An enslaved person who escaped to seek freedom.

Conductors

Individuals who helped guide escaped enslaved people along the Underground Railroad.

The Underground Railroad

A network aiding the escape of enslaved people from the South to free states.

Dred Scott Decision

An 1857 Supreme Court ruling that declared African Americans were not citizens and had no right to sue.

The Declaration of Independence

A document, adopted in 1776, proclaiming the freedom of the American colonies from British rule.

African culture

The rich and diverse cultural heritage and social structures of African societies prior to European contact.

White supremacy

A racist ideology that white people are superior to those of all other races, used to justify racial discrimination.

Taxation

The process of imposing financial charges on individuals or entities by governments.

Industrial Revolution

A period of rapid industrial growth and technological advancement beginning in the late 18th century.

Social hierarchy

A system of organization where individuals or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority.

Coded language

A method of communication that uses symbols or hints to convey messages, often used by enslaved people to communicate secretly.

Jumping the broom

A wedding ceremony tradition among enslaved people, signifying marriage when legal recognition was not available.

Inhumane treatment

Cruel and degrading treatment of individuals, often seen in the context of slavery.

Surveillance

Close observation, especially of a suspected spy or criminal, often experienced by enslaved people to prevent escape.