History

Knowledge Organiser: How should we remember Britain’s role in the slave trade? Key Word Definition Reasons for the Growth of Slavery Reasons for the Abolition of Slavery Abolition The action of ending a system, practise, or institution. Britain abolished slavery officially in 1833. Economic: extremely profitable business • Sugar was in massive demand. • To make as much money as possible, plantation owners need cheap labour. • Slaves were not paid so profit was high. Political: power and control over rival countries • Competition between European nations was fierce. • The aim: to have the most powerful Empire. • If a nation was not involved, others would take ‘advantage’. Individuals • Thomas Clarkson, William Wilberforce & Granville Sharpe exposed the truth about plantation slavery. • Josiah Wedgewood designed an anti-slavery logo which was exported all across the world on Wedgewood products, Slave Actions • Ex-slaves such Olaudah Equiano campaigned to convince people that slavery was wrong. • By the late C18th, slave revolts became more common: it was clear if they were not set free they would free themselves. Captive A person who has been taken prisoner against their will. Race The idea that people can be divided into groups based on physical characteristics such as skin colour. Religious: beliefs about Christianising Africa • Some people felt it was their duty to enslave ‘barbaric’ Africans. • Many Christians justified this by making a connection between sin, slavery and skin colour. • “Darkness is evil”. Racial: justification for treatment of Africans • It was in the European’s best interest to promote the idea that white people were better than black people. • It fed into the idea that Africa (and its people) were trapped in the dark and needed saving. Economic • Slavery was becoming less profitable: it was cheaper to pay a low wage than it was to house and feed them. • Banking and other businesses became more profitable than slavery. Changing Attitudes • Christian groups began to teach that everyone was equal in the sight of God. • Nation-wide anti-slavery campaigns and a global anti-slavery organisation put pressure on government to end slavery. Slavery A condition in which one human being is owned by another: most slaves had little to no rights. Transatlantic Trade Triangle The global slave system which involved the trading of raw materials, goods and slaves between Europe, Africa and the Americas. The Life of a Slave: ANCIENT WORLD MEDIEVAL WORLD EARLY MODERN WORLD INDUSTRIAL WORLD MODERN WORLD 460BC 1250 1500 1750 1900 Capture: potential slaves were often chased like animals by European traders and African tribe members in order to be captured ready for sale. It is estimated that over 10 million were taken. Bunce Island: many slaves were taken to slave castles like the one in Sierra Leone to be processed before transport. These ‘slave factories’ operated on an industrial scale. Middle Passage: slaves were loaded onto ships like animals and forced to endure weeks of overcrowding, poor sanitation and a lack of food before arriving in the Americas to be sold. Auction: slaves were auctioned off to the highest bidder: families were separated as children, women and men were bought by wealthy white Americans. Plantations: many slaves were forced to work on plantations; to days were extremely long and the work (picking cotton or tobacco) was tough. Punishments were common. Key word Definition What was the Industrial Revolution? The Industrial Revolution is the name given to the period between 1750 and 1900, when Britain went through huge changes. Britain went from a country based on farming, where nearly everyone lived in the countryside to one where people moved to growing towns and cities to work in new factories. The Industrial Revolution involved a change from whole families working in people’s homes (domestic system) to largescale manufacturing in factories (factory system). Causes Consequences Cause A reason why something happens • Population growth • Increased demand for products • The British Empire • Urbanisation • Inventors and the development of machinery • Changes to power • Death of the domestic system • Growth of the factory system • Growth of towns and cities • Overcrowding and pollution • Wealth and increased profits • Changes to workers lives Consequence Impact or result Interpretation Viewpoint or opinion Agriculture Farming (growing crops and raising animals) Domestic System Whole families worked together in homes or small workshops Empire A collection of colonies ruled by one ‘mother’ country Industrialisation A process where Britain changed from agriculture to larger scale manufacturing in mills and factories What does historian Emma Griffin argue? ‘It is clear that something momentous happened in Britain between the end of the eighteenth century and the middle of the nineteenth. At some point, the nation stopped trying to make all its goods by hand and started to burn fossil fuels to drive machinery to do the work instead. In the process, large numbers of families gave up working the land, and moved to towns and cities to take up employment in factories, mills and mines. As each decade of the early nineteenth century passed it became increasingly obvious that Britain had left behind its pre-industrial past and was travelling on an entirely new trajectory’. Population The amount of people living in a town, city or country Revolution Dramatic and wide-reaching change Urbanisation The movement of people from rural areas to towns and cities Working class People who earn money through working in physical jobs 1750 1768 1769 1771 1801 1851 1900 Domestic Steam Spinning First factory Population of P