Exploration, Mercantilism, and the Transatlantic Slave Trade Study Notes
Jacques Cartier and early French Exploration of North America
Jacques Cartier was a French mariner commissioned by France to discover the Northwest Passage, a sea route through North America to reach the markets of Asia. During his voyages, he explored territories including Newfoundland, Labrador, and likely Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. Initially, Cartier maintained positive relations with the Haudenosaunee people. However, this relationship soured, leading to a visible display of upset from Chief Donnacona. Following this tension, Cartier kidnapped the Chief’s sons, Taignoagny and Domagaya, to enforce a peace agreement before sailing back to France.
In his subsequent voyage, Cartier used Taignoagny and Domagaya as guides because of their extensive knowledge of the geography. He sailed up the Saint Lawrence River to Montreal, hoping to find a path through Canada to the Atlantic Ocean and eventually Asia. During the winter, Cartier was forced to stop in Stadacona, where his sailors suffered from an outbreak of scurvy that resulted in the deaths of men. Domagaya saved many of the remaining sailors by teaching them how to brew a vitamin C-rich tea. Despite this life-saving aid, Cartier kidnapped Domagaya and nine other men to take them to France, where they eventually died of disease. On a third attempt to return, Cartier traded for what he believed were "diamonds and gold," which were revealed to be fakes. He attempted to establish a settlement in Roberval, where people died, but the Haudenosaunee refused to trade with him and threatened war, leading to the failure of the settlement.
The Economic Policy of Mercantilism
Mercantilism is defined as an economic policy that focuses on maximizing exports and minimizing imports to accumulate the greatest amount of wealth for a nation, often driven by the goals of "God, Gold, and Glory." Under this system, European powers sought raw materials such as sugar, furs, and gold from colonized territories. These raw materials were shipped from colonies to Europe to be processed and manufactured. This provided jobs within Europe and allowed European nations to sell manufactured goods back to those colonies and other markets, resulting in massive wealth for European monarchs. The Kings and Queens of Europe became wealthy because they funded the expeditions and received a percentage of the profits and finds, gaining significant power and prestige.
Explorers who led these expeditions also received a large percentage of profits and goods, while the owners of shipping companies and factories profited from the transportation and sale of goods. In contrast, the colonies themselves did not make money or see profits from this arrangement. John Cabot, an Italian explorer, was another key figure who received a "letters patent" or license to "find, subdue, occupy, and possess" any lands he discovered. He reached "New Found Land" (now Newfoundland) and claimed it officially for England.
The Origins and Statistics of the Transatlantic Slave Trade
The transatlantic slave trade was a result of European colonialism in the Americas, which created an explosion in the demand for labor. Because European diseases had decimated indigenous populations and Europeans were unwilling to perform the labor themselves, they turned to Africa for workers. Africans were targeted because they were unfamiliar with the American land, making it difficult to escape, and they possessed a resistance to European diseases. The trade began around and continued until the century. During this period, approximately enslaved Africans were taken from the coast of Africa and shipped to the Americas. Of that total, approximately people died during the voyage across the ocean.
This system was driven by European demand and wealth, even though some African leaders participated in enslaving people from the interior to trade with Europeans for goods like textiles, rum, and manufactured items. This created a cycle of chaos in Africa, as it encouraged warfare between African nations to take prisoners who could be sold. This wealth eventually helped spark the Industrial Revolution in Europe, which was the period in the and centuries when machines were first used for large-scale production. While slavery had existed in ancient Athens, Rome, China, and India, those forms often allowed the enslaved to be a social class that could eventually regain freedom. The transatlantic slave trade was distinct and more cruel because it evolved into chattel slavery, where humans were treated as private property and subjected to slave-branding with hot irons to mark them permanently as property.
The Middle Passage and Ship Conditions
The Middle Passage refers to the leg of the triangular trade linking Africa to the Americas. This journey across miles of ocean usually began in ports along the western coasts of Africa, where enslaved people were held in castle-like prisons known as "Points of No Return." These locations, such as Cape Coast Castle in Ghana, were the last places in Africa that those enslaved would ever see. From there, they were loaded onto ships where the conditions were unimaginably cruel. Approximately of enslaved people died during the two-to-three-month journey.
On these ships, captives were forced between decks at night, chained together and stacked like luggage, with each person having less space than a body in a coffin. Sick individuals were often tossed overboard like corpses. In good weather, they were brought to the top deck for exercise while remaining in chains. Their diet usually consisted of "mushy beans" until the ship neared its destination, at which point sellers fed them meat and more calories to undo the signs of malnourishment solely to secure a higher sale price. Upon arrival, the survivors were sold to new owners to begin a life of forced labor on plantations.
Plantation Economics and the Triangular Trade
The transatlantic slave trade eventually focused heavily on sugar production, with massive sugar plantations expanding in Brazil and the Caribbean. These operations were highly profitable but required endless amounts of grueling, painful work. By the , more than eight out of every ten enslaved individuals were sent to Brazil or the Caribbean. In Brazil, the life expectancy for an enslaved person was only years. This high death rate actually increased the demand for trafficking, as a new slave was brought over for every one that died. This cycle was a core part of the Triangular Trade: textiles, rum, and manufactured goods moved from Europe to Africa; enslaved people moved from Africa to the Americas via the Middle Passage; and raw materials like sugar, tobacco, and cotton moved from the Americas back to Europe.
Questions & Discussion
One central document regarding the experience of the trade was written by Ottobah Cugoano (), who explored the question: "How did individuals experience and react to their situation in the transatlantic slave trade?" In addition to the personal accounts of survivors, historians continue to investigate the justifications used for the trade. While European demand was the primary driver, justifications used at the time included religion, concepts of "civilization," and later, racist ideologies developed as an excuse for the ongoing enslavement of African people.