Atlantic Slave Trade 

The Atlantic Slave Trade

  • Lasted from about 1500 to 1866

  • About 12.5 million Africans were taken from their societies   * About 10.7 million made it to the Americas   * About 1.8 million (14.4%) died during the transatlantic crossing   * Millions more died in the process of capture and transport to the African coast 🡪 and didn’t even make it to the ships

  • When slaves arrived in the Americas, they were sold at auctions   * Used as laborers, seen only as a unit for profit   * Viewed as valuable property/things, NOT people

The Middle Passage

  • Middle Passage   * Enslaved person’s journey from Africa to the Americas   * Middle leg of the “Triangular Trade” pattern   * Miserable journey     * Packed tightly together     * Chained together     * Many suffocated or died of disease (1 in 6)     * Some committed suicide or went on hunger strikes

The Slave Trade in Context

  • Idea of slavery = nothing new

  • Before 1500 = Mediterranean and Indian Ocean regions were major areas of slave trading   * Major source of slaves = southern Russia

  • Many African societies practiced slavery themselves, as well as selling slaves into these networks   * Trans-Saharan slave trade = brought Africans to the Mediterranean   * East African slave trade = brought Africans to the Middle East and Indian Ocean area

  • Slaves have always been considered “outsiders” of their masters’ societies, but slavery came in many forms 🡪 examples:   * Some slaves could be assimilated into their owners’ households or communities   * In some places, children of slaves were considered slaves; in other places they were considered free   * Preference for female slaves in the Islamic world   * Jobs of slaves differed depending on the region

__**Slavery in the Americas: Something Different \n **__Immense size of the traffic of slaves

  • Centrality of slave labor to the economies of colonial America
  • Slavery based on plantation agriculture only
  • Slaves treated as dehumanized property
  • Slave status = inherited; little hope of freedom
  • Racial dimension 🡪 Atlantic slavery came to be indentified with Africa and “blackness”

Origins of Atlantic Slavery

  • Origins = lie in the Mediterranean = where Europeans first established sugar plantations   * After they learned about sugarcane and producing usable sugar from the Arabs   * Also set up sugar plantations on islands off the coast of West Africa

  • Sugar plantation work = difficult and dangerous   * Slavery became the source of labor because nobody would work under these conditions for the small wages being offered

  • Original slaves on these Mediterranean plantations = Slavic-speaking people from the Black Sea region

  • 1453 = Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople   * Result = Official end of Byzantine Empire   * Result = Ottomans now controlled Black Sea region   * Result = Ottomans cut off Christian Europe from its major source of slaves

  • At the same time = the Portuguese were starting to explore the coast of West Africa   * Were looking for gold 🡪 but found an alternative source of slaves there

  • Result = when sugar-plantations started in the Americas, Europeans already had ties to a West African source of labor supply

  • Africa = primary source of slave labor for the colonies through a process of elimination   * Slavic-peoples = no longer available   * Native Americans = quickly died off from European diseases   * Europeans = Christians = exempt from slavery   * European indentured servants = expensive and temporary

  • To the Europeans, Africans were perfect for plantation labor because:   * Skilled farmers   * Some immunity to tropical and European diseases   * Not Christian   * Relatively close and easy to get   * Available in large numbers   * Had darker skin 🡪 allowed the Europeans to view them as an “inferior” race

The Slave Trade in Practice

  • Slave raiding in Africa = unnecessary and unwise   * African societies = capable of defending themselves against European intrusion   * African societies = willing to sell their slaves peacefully   * Europeans = dropped like flies when entering Africa’s interior because not immune to tropical diseases

  • In exchange for slaves, African sellers wanted:   * European and Indian textiles   * Cowrie shells (used as money in West Africa)   * European metal goods   * Firearms and gunpowder   * Tobacco and alcohol   * Decorative items, such as beads

  • African slave trade = hurt smaller societies within Africa   * Raided by larger, more powerful neighbors to conquer their people to sell as slaves   * Lacked the protection of a strong state

How Did the Slave Trade Work?

  • Step 1: African merchants and political elites captured slaves and brought them to the coast of West Africa
  • Step 2: Europeans waited on the coast (in ships or fortified settlements) to purchase these slaves
  • Step 3: Europeans brought slaves to the Americas and sold them at slave auctions to plantation owners

Where Did These Slaves Come From?

  • Slave trade drew mainly on the societies of West Africa
  • Progressively moved into the interior of Africa as the demand for slaves picked up
  • Slaves = drawn from marginal groups in African societies = prisoners of war, criminals, debtors, people who had been “pawned” during times of difficulty, etc.   * Those captured and sold = “outsiders”   * So Africans didn’t believe they were “selling their own people”

The Impact of the Slave Trade in Africa

  • Slowed Africa’s population growth   * Simultaneously = populations of Europe, China, etc. were expanding

  • Causes:   * Loss of millions of people over 4 centuries   * Economic stagnation caused by the slave trade   * Political disruption caused by the slave trade

  • Slave trade = did not help Africa economically because: African merchants and elites who sold the slaves kept the money for themselves and did not invest in their African societies

  • No technological breakthroughs in agriculture or industry to help increase the wealth of African societies

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