The Transatlantic Slave Trade and the history of slavery

What was the Transatlantic Slave Trade?

A system where millions of Africans were forcibly transported to the Americas to work as slaves from the 16th to the 19th century.

What is the "Triangular Trade"?

A trade route connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas, trading goods, slaves, and raw materials.

What goods were sent from Europe to Africa in the slave trade?

Guns, textiles, alcohol, and manufactured goods.

What was the Middle Passage?

The brutal sea journey that transported enslaved Africans to the Americas.

About how many Africans were enslaved and transported during the Transatlantic Slave Trade?

Approximately 12 to 15 million people.

Name two major African regions involved in supplying slaves.

West Africa and Central Africa.

What crops did enslaved people mainly work on in the Americas?

Sugar, cotton, tobacco, and coffee.

Which European countries were the main participants in the slave trade?

Portugal, Britain, Spain, France, and the Netherlands.

What is chattel slavery?

A system where enslaved people were considered property that could be bought and sold.

Who were abolitionists?

People who fought to end slavery.

Name a famous British abolitionist.

William Wilberforce.

When did Britain abolish the slave trade?

In 1807, with the Slave Trade Act.

When was slavery abolished in the British Empire?

In 1833, with the Slavery Abolition Act.

What was the impact of the slave trade on African societies?

It caused population loss, warfare, and social disruption.

What were slave ships?

Ships used to transport enslaved Africans under inhumane conditions.

Define "indentured servitude."

A system where people worked for a period to pay off debt or passage, different from slavery.

What role did African leaders play in the slave trade?

Some captured and sold rival tribes to European traders.

Name a key American leader who fought against slavery.

Frederick Douglass.

When was slavery abolished in the United States?

In 1865, with the 13th Amendment.

What is the Underground Railroad?

A secret network that helped slaves escape to free states and Canada.

What was the economic motive behind the slave trade?

To supply cheap labor for plantations and maximise profit.

What is the legacy of slavery today?

Racial inequalities and systemic racism in societies across the Americas.

What Caribbean islands were heavily involved in plantation slavery?

Jamaica, Barbados, and Saint-Domingue (now Haiti).

What is manumission?

The act of freeing a slave by their owner.

Who were the Maroons?

Communities of escaped enslaved Africans who resisted slavery, especially in Jamaica and Suriname.

What was the first country to abolish slavery?

Haiti, after its revolution in 1804.

What was the role of ports like Liverpool and Bristol in the slave trade?

They became wealthy centers by participating in and profiting from the trade.

What is the difference between slavery in ancient times and the Transatlantic Slave Trade?

The latter was based on race and hereditary status.

What famous document declared "all men are created equal" but coexisted with slavery?

The U.S. Declaration of Independence (1776).

What modern movements are connected to the legacy of slavery?

Civil rights movements and Black Lives Matter.