Slavery

Slave Trade

What is Slavery?

Slavery refers to a condition in which individuals are owned by others, who control where they live and at what they work. Slavery previously existed throughout history, in many times and most places. The ancient Greeks, the Romans, Incas and Aztecs all had slaves. A slave is a human being classed as property and who is forced to work for nothing. A person can be captured and sold into slavery, or be born in to it.

Modern Slavery

There are approximately 40.3 million people in modern slavery, including 24.9 million forced labour and 15.4 million forced marriage. Women and girls are disproportionately affected by forced labour, accounting in the commercial sex industry, 50% in other industries. There are 5.4 victims of modern slavery for every 1000 people. 1 in 4 victims of modern slavery are children.

Colonisation:

European colonisation of the Americas (or the ‘New World’) began in the late fifteenth century. European nations were motivated to colonise this ‘New World’ in the hope of increasing their wealth and power. The first nation to colonise part of the Americas was the Spanish. 

Plantations:

Throughout the Americas plantations of cotton, tobacco and sugar were created. There was a huge demand for these products in Europe and as these farms prospered owners required more and more workers. Initially, native Americans were used as labour. As a consequence, it is believed over 18 million Native Americans died within a few decades.  Europeans in the Americas then turned their attention to Africa, where the Portuguese had had a thriving slave trade since the fifteenth century. As a result, from approximately 1525 to 1865, some 12.5 million slaves were shipped from Africa, with around 10.7 million arriving in the Americas. 

The Industrial Revolution and the Slave Trade

In the early 18^th century the Industrial Revolution occurred, which increased demand for the ‘luxury’ products farmed on plantations in the Caribbean and North America. By this point there was a thriving triangular trade route which existed between Europe, the Americas and Africa. This was known as the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Goods and people were transported across the Atlantic in a relentless bid to increase the profits of governments and certain individuals.

1. Ships leave England loaded with goods and weapons.

2. Goods are exchanged for slaves in Africa.

3. Slaves exchanged for raw material. Ships return to England. 

Capture and Voyage:

The Middle Passage:

• FACT #1: 1 in 5 Africans would die on the voyage to the Americas. 

• FACT #2: Ships could transport up to 600 African people at a time.

• FACT #3: Laws eventually introduced regulations to cap the number of people being transported at one time. 

• FACT #4: Ships were referred to as ‘floating graves’ due to the stench that could be smelt from the land.

Conditions:

• Tight pack

  This method involved packing as many slaves into the ship as possible. It was expected that some would die, but a large number would survive the voyage. A ships hold was cramped – only five feet high, with a shelf running round the edge to carry yet more slaves. The slaves were packed in so tightly that one captain descripted them as being ‘like books on a shelf.’

• Loose pack

  Less slaves were loaded so they had more space to lie out. As a result less slaves died and less money was lost.

Life as a Slave

Arrival in the Americas

• Once Africans arrived in the Americas they were sold at auction; in the same way that people would sell an animal, or another piece of property. 

Families were destroyed, as children were often sold separately from their parents. 

Sold at Auction

‘Once a slave ship made it to the Americas, the cargo of slaves would be sold at auction. Slaves would have to be prepared first. The healthier they appeared to be, the higher the price they would fetch.

Slave traders would use a range of methods to ensure the slaves looked healthy and increase their value. 

Often the skin of slaves was rubbed with oil. Flogging scars on the backs of unruly slaves were filled with tar to hide the signs of an ‘undisciplined’ slave. Older slaves would have their heads shaved to hide signs of grey hairs and make them appear younger.

Life on the Plantations:

• Once slaves arrived at a cotton plantation, they were forced to endure difficult and laborious working conditions.

• As a result of the Industrial Revolution, the demand for cotton greatly increased in Britain.

• By 1861, cotton made up two thirds of all United States’ exports.

• The Southern states had a rural economy and cotton was crucial to their prosperity. 

•   Other goods that were grown included tobacco   and sugar which was to be shipped for sale in Europe. 

• Whilst the Northern states moved to abolish slavery in the 18^th century, the Southern states, in which ‘cotton was king’ continued to import slave labour. 

The Cotton Gin

Sample Source Analysis

Experiences of African slaves on plantations were commonly charcterised as enduring a lifetime of relentless suffering, humiliation and poverty. The 1856 illustration highlights the cruel punishments that were administered by slave owners and their supervisors to slaves who worked on their plantations. Such punishments included being flogged with whips and paddles, as well as being stripped down as a way of humiliating the victim. The source also reveals that other slaves, including family members, could only helplessly look on as their loved ones were being tortured by slave owners. The female slave being whipped appears to have severe scarring on her back, suggesting repeated instances of tortue and the young girl begging the white overseer to stop beating the male slave hanging from the tree adds to the pathos of the scene. Other humiliating and cruel punishments that slaves on the cotton plantations of North America experienced included placing ‘slave collars’ on slaves. The bells on the collar would alert the owner that their ‘property’ was trying to escape. Another form of control was through the passing of legislation. In 1860, as the numbers of African American slaves increased to four million, slave owners enforced laws to prevent the retaliation of slaves, including making it a crime to strike a white person. Laws such as these were common on plantations throughout the southern states of America and were used as a way of creating fear and maintaining control.

What is Lynching?

Lynchings were violent public acts that white people used to terrorise and control Black people in the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly in the South. Lynchings typically evoke images of Black men and women hanging from trees, but they involved other extreme brutality, such as torture, mutilation, decapitation, and desecration. Some victims were burned alive.

A typical lynching involved a criminal accusation, an arrest, and the assembly of a mob, followed by seizure, physical torment, and murder of the victim. Lynchings were often public spectacles attended by the white community in celebration of white supremacy. Photos of lynchings were often sold as souvenir postcards.

Slave Rebellions: The Underground Railroad

Slave Revolts

In 1776, the United States of America was formed after it gained independence from the British Empire. By 1804 most of the Northern States had voted to abolish slavery, however the Southern states, where ‘cotton was king’, continued to import slave labour for many decades. 

Nat Turner:

• Nat Turner led one of the most well known, sustained and successful slave revolts in America.  

• He was an African American slave born in Virginia in 1800 to a mother who was also a slave and who instilled a deep hatred for slavery in her son. 

• After being taught to read by one of the sons of his first master he became almost fanatical about religion, coming to believe that God was directing him to lead his people out of slavery.

Nat Turner’s Slave Revolt:

• Turner was sold multiple times to various masters. As he continued to grow he began to exert a powerful influence over many of the nearby slaves. 

• In 1831 he took an eclipse as a sign that the time to strike was near. 

• His plan was to capture an armory and then, along with those he had rallied to his cause, travel to the Dismal Swamp, where capture would be difficult. 

• On August 21^st he put his plan into action and murdered his latest master and his family while they slept. 

• Over the next two days Turner and his supporters marched towards the armory (at a place called Jerusalem), killing almost 60 white people along the way.

• Turner’s revolt was doomed from the start, however. Only about 75 slaves rallied to his cause in comparison to the 3000 armed men of the state militia, called in to put an end to the rebellion. 

• Only a few miles from Jerusalem the insurgents were captured or killed.

• Though Turner initially escaped and remained free for close to 6 weeks, he too was eventually caught, tried and hanged. 

Aftermath:

• In the wake of Turner’s revolt there was mass hysteria amongst the white people of the South.

• The rebellion has demonstrated that slaves were not contented with their lot or too obedient and worn down to mount an attack (both popular myths at the time).

• In response, not only were all the insurgents killed, but close to 200 innocent slaves were lynched.

• Turner’s actions also set off a “new wave of oppressive legislation prohibiting the education, movement, and assembly of slaves.”

Abolitionists

Slavery in the USA:

Slavery lasted roughly 250 years, beginning around 1619 and officially ending in 1865 with the 13th Amendment, although the Emancipation Proclamation was delivered by the President in 1863 during the Civil War. During this time, however, several brave individuals campaigned to bring slavery to an end. 

Abolitionists:

Abolitionists were people who wanted to put an end to slavery. There were many different kinds of people who became abolitionists, both black and white, though most resided in the free Northern states. 

Civil War Background

The American Civil War (1861-1865)

• Slavery

 At the heart of the divide between the North and the South was slavery. The South relied on slavery for labor to work the fields. Many people in the North believed that slavery was wrong and evil. These people were called abolitionists. They wanted slavery to be illegal throughout the United States. Abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass, John Brown, Harriet Tubman, and Harriet Beecher Stowe began to convince more and more people of the evil of slavery. This made wealthy landowners in the South fearful that their way of life would come to an end. 

• Expansion 

As the United States continued to expand westward, each new state added to the country shifted the power between the North and the South. Southern states began to fear they would lose so much power that they would lose all their rights. Each new state became a battleground between the two sides for power.

• Industry vs. Farming

 In the mid-1800s, the economies of many northern states had moved away from farming to industry. A lot of people in the North worked and lived in large cities like New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. The southern states, however, had maintained a large farming economy and this economy was based on slave labor. While the North no longer needed slaves, the South relied heavily upon slaves for their way of life.

• Abraham Lincoln

 was a member of the new anti-slavery Republican Party. He managed to get elected without even being on the ballot in ten of the southern states. The southern states felt that Lincoln was against slavery and also against the South.

• Secession 

When Lincoln was elected, many of the southern states decided they no longer wanted to be a part of the United States. They felt that they had every right to leave. Starting with South Carolina, eleven states would eventually leave the United States and form a new country called the Confederate States of America. Abraham Lincoln said they did not have the right to leave the United States and sent in troops to force the Southern states to rejoin the Union. 

The Road to War:

For many decades people in the Northern free states of America and those in the South argued about the issue of slavery. Although it was not put into effect immediately, all the Northern states had voted to abolish slavery by 1804. Similarly, the British Empire ended the slave trade in 1807, though it took another 26 years for it to be properly and completely abolished.  The Southern states however, were adamant about their right to own slaves. Eventually tensions erupted into a civil war (armed conflict between groups of people who belong to the same country).

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850:

In the lead up to the outbreak of the Civil War, tensions between the North and South continued to escalate. It didn’t help that the Southern state of California wanted to join the union (Northern states) as a free state, infuriating a lot of the Southern states. 

The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 that temporarily diffuse tensions between slave and free states in the years leading up to the American Civil War. 

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was one of these laws and the last attempt by the government in Washington to appease the Southern slave states and shut down the Underground Railroad. It required every state and territory in the United States to assist in the return of fugitive slaves and gave slave owners the right to seek them out even in states that had abolished slavery. Any white person could be deputised and forced to participate in capturing free black people. Abolitionists were depicted as villains who had tried to destroy the United States.

Causes of the Civil War:

• Abraham Lincoln:

Lincoln was elected as President in 1860 and was outspoken against slavery. The South feared that they would be forced to end slavery. The strong belief in States’ Rights – the belief that states should have the freedom to decide their own laws –  pushed the Southern states to form their own country: the Confederate States of America.

• The Creation of the Confederate States

In the aftermath of Lincoln’s election, the state of South Carolina made the decision to leave the United States. This happened on the 20th December, 1860. 10 states followed. On the 8th of Feb, 1861, the Confederacy choose their own president – Jefferson Davis. The United States was no longer united. Lincoln was not prepared to allow this to happen. On the 12th April, 1861, a civil war broke out between the Union Army of the North and the Confederate Army of the South. 

• The “Trigger”:

Wars are started due to a range of long and short term causes.  Often an event occurs which is seen as the ‘trigger’ or the ‘spark’ which finally ignites a war.

In the case of The Civil War, the trigger was the attack by Southern Soldiers (The Confederate) on the US Army fortress, Fort Sumter, at Charleston, South Carolina. This attack took place on April 12–13, 1861.

Facts about the Civil War:

• The American Civil War lasted four years: April 1861- April 1865 

• More than 3 million men fought in the war.

• Two percent of the population – more than 620,000 – died in it.

• At Cold Harbor, Virginia, 7,000 Americans fell in 20 minutes.

• Disease was the chief killer during the war, taking two men for every one who died of battle wounds.

• The Civil War was brought to an end with the surrendering of the South in April 1865. 

Comparison of Working and Living Conditions:

According to the speaker in the source, the factory workers in the North and the slaves in the South faced different conditions:

• Factory Workers (North): The speaker claims that northern factory workers, including men, women, and children, work in dangerous and unhealthy conditions for very low wages. They live in overcrowded and filthy housing and struggle under harsh working conditions.

• Slaves on Southern Plantations: The speaker argues that enslaved people in the South are better off because their owners provide them with food, shelter, and stability. He suggests that enslaved people never have to worry about unemployment or survival, unlike the poor workers in northern cities.

Effect of Speeches Like This on Southern Slave Owners:

Speeches like this would have reinforced Southern slave owners' beliefs that slavery was necessary and even beneficial for both the economy and enslaved people. It justified their practices by portraying slavery as a humane system, comparing it favorably to industrial labor in the North. This would have strengthened their resistance to abolition and increased their determination to defend slavery as part of their Southern identity and economy.

Warning to Northerners:

The speaker warns that the South will not tolerate interference from the North regarding slavery. He states that southern states have the right to govern themselves and that if Northerners continue to oppose slavery, the South will have no choice but to leave from the United States. This reflects the growing tension that eventually led to the Civil War.

Cause Paragraph

The American Civil War (1861–1865) was caused by a mix of long-term tensions and short-term events. One major long-term cause was the growing divide between the North and South, mainly over slavery. The South relied on slavery for its farming-based economy, while the North was more industrialized and wanted to stop slavery from spreading. Over time, political compromises like the Missouri Compromise (1820) and the Compromise of 1850 tried to keep peace, but they only delayed conflict instead of solving the problem. A key short-term cause was Abraham Lincoln’s election in 1860. Southern states saw him as a threat to their way of life, so they began seceding from the Union. The final spark came in April 1861, when Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter, forcing Lincoln to call for soldiers and officially starting the war.
Critical Thinking

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was horrifying not just to escaped slaves but to many people in the North because it forced them to participate in the system of slavery, even if they were against it. The law required citizens to assist in capturing runaway slaves and made it illegal to help or hide them. It also denied accused runaways the right to a fair trial, meaning free Black people could be kidnapped and sold into slavery based on little to no evidence. The Act empowered federal officials to arrest suspected fugitives anywhere in the country, often leading to violent confrontations. Many Northerners, even those who were not abolitionists, were outraged by the law because it put them in a moral and legal dilemma. However, the American government passed this bill despite its controversy as part of the Compromise of 1850, which was meant to ease tensions between the North and South. Southern states demanded stronger enforcement of fugitive slave laws because they feared the increasing number of escaped slaves and growing Northern resistance to slavery. The federal government hoped that by passing the Act, they could maintain peace and prevent secession, but instead, it intensified anti-slavery sentiment in the North and pushed the country closer to war.

The North’s stance against slavery was not purely out of the goodness of their hearts—it was also deeply tied to economic and political reasons. While many abolitionists, such as Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison, fought against slavery because they believed it was morally wrong, the broader Northern opposition had a lot to do with economics. The Northern economy was based on industry and wage labor, meaning slavery was not necessary for their system to function. In contrast, the Southern economy depended on plantations and enslaved labor, so the South viewed any threat to slavery as a threat to its way of life. Many Northerners feared that if slavery spread to new territories, wealthy Southern plantation owners would dominate the economy, limiting opportunities for small farmers and wage workers. The Republican Party, led by Abraham Lincoln, opposed the expansion of slavery not necessarily because they wanted racial equality, but because they wanted to protect free labor and prevent the South from gaining more power. While some Northerners were genuinely against slavery for moral reasons, the region’s stance was largely shaped by economic interests and the desire to limit Southern influence in the government.

The Civil War

1. The American Civil War was the deadliest war in American History.

2. Over 210 000 soldiers were killed and there were 625 000 total who died.

3. Sixty-six percent of deaths in the war were due to disease. 

4. The Union Army (the North) consisted of 2,100,000 soldiers whilst the Confederate Army of 1,064,000. 

5. Thirty percent of all Southern white males between the ages of 18-40 died in the war. 

THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION - 1863

• The Emancipation Proclamation was an order given on January 1, 1863 by Abraham Lincoln to free the enslaved.

• Only about 50,000 of the 4 million enslaved people were immediately set free.

• The Emancipation Proclamation had some limitations. First, it only freed the enslaved in the Confederate States that were not under Union control. There were some areas and border states where slavery was still legal, but were part of the Union. The enslaved in these states were not immediately freed. For the rest of the Southern states, the enslaved would not be free until the Union was able to defeat the Confederacy.

Did black Americans fight in the civil war?

• It was not until 1863, that the US government began recruiting black soldiers. 

• Black soldiers fought in segregated regiments for the Union Army of the North. 

• Official records show that a total of 186,107 men served in black regiments. 

• 37,300 black soldiers lost their lives whilst serving in the Union Army. 

• Initially, black soldiers were paid less than white soldiers (seven dollars instead of the 13 dollars a white private received).

• Whilst white soldiers may not have agreed with slavery, this did not stop them looking down on black soldiers and seeing them as inferior.  

• Nevertheless, 17 black Union soldiers and 4 black sailors were awarded the Congressional Medal - America’s highest military award. 

• As you might imagine, southerners were angry that black soldiers were being used to fight against them. 

• Confederate President Jefferson Davis proclaimed that any black soldier caught would be returned to slavery, whilst black officers would be killed. 

• Atrocities were committed by Confederate soldiers such as The Massacre at Fort Pillow, which occurred in 1864.

• Close to 300 Union soldiers were killed, most of whom were black. Witnesses claim that a number of these deaths occurred when Confederate soldiers murdered those trying to surrender. 

The War Comes to an End

• On April 9, 1865 General Robert E. Lee (South) surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant (North) at Appomattox, Virginia. This signaled the start of the end of the American Civil War.

• General Grant and the Union Army had the Confederates surrounded. The Confederates were low on supplies, many soldiers were deserting, and they were greatly outnumbered. Upon looking at the conditions and the odds, General Lee felt he had no choice but to surrender.

• The terms of the surrender: The North were very generous to the south.  Confederate soldiers would have to turn in their rifles, but they could return home immediately and keep their horses or mules. They were also given food as many of them were very hungry.

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