1. Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade (Triangular Trade)

• Process:

  • Africa: Transported captive Africans to America.

  • America: Sent raw materials to Europe.

  • Europe: Provided manufactured goods to Africa and America.

• Diaspora: The spread of African people and culture globally (African diaspora).

2. Key Concepts and Terminology

• Thingification: Reducing a person to an object, stripping them of humanity.

• Chattel Enslavement: Enslaved individuals treated as property, bought and sold; a practice still existing in some forms.

• King Buzzards: Souls of Africans who aided Europeans, believed to eternally wander.

• Forts: Large complexes for holding captured Africans.

• Pawns: Family members held as collateral for the delivery of war captives.

3. Slave Ship Practices

• Tight Packing: Overloading ships with slaves, leading to high mortality rates but higher profits.

• Loose Packing: Loading ships below capacity to reduce death rates; proved ineffective.

• Common Elements of the ordeal: War captives, holding pens, and ships with chained captives.

4. Enslavement Practices in America

• Breeding: Forced marriages among enslaved people to increase slave population.

  • Marriage was not legally recognized.

• Seasoning Process: Three categories of enslaved individuals:

  1. Creole: Born in America.

  2. Old Africans: Long-term residents.

  3. New Africans: Recently arrived, considered "unbroken."

  • Renaming: Part of seasoning, often using Christian or Roman names.

  • Drivers: Black overseers who managed enslaved work, often carrying whips.

  • Slaves who were unseasoned were considered “unbroken.”

• Survival Rate: 25-33% of newly arrived Africans did not survive seasoning.

5. Hierarchy and Race

• Concept of Race: Developed with slavery, categorizing people based on physical traits and placing them in a hierarchy.

• European Elites: Used race for social and economic control.

• Social Stratification: People of mixed heritage, Asians, and Native Americans ranked differently, often below Europeans but above Africans.

• African Identity: Initially cultural and linguistic, not necessarily based on skin color.

6. Origins and Justification

• Etymology of "Slave": Derived from the Latin word "sclavus" referring to Europeans enslaved by the Roman Empire.

• Early Enslavement of Indigenous Peoples: Initially enslaved Native Americans, but population declined due to diseases and resistance.

• European Imperial Ambitions Justified enslavement of "others" (non-Christians, non-Europeans).

7. Capture and Transport

• Methods of Acquisition: Enslaved individuals often were war captives, criminals, debtors, or from smaller, vulnerable communities.

• March to the Coast: Enslaved individuals walked 60-400 miles, with a 10-40% death rate.

• Blame: Enslaved individuals often held other Africans responsible for initial captivity, while Europeans were seen as devoid of humanity.

8. Holding Prisons (Barracoons)

• Lack of Native Prisons: Most African languages lacked a word for "prison"; captives were held in barracoons.

• Baptism and Branding: Enslaved individuals were often baptized and branded with crosses, marking forced conversion to Christianity.

  • Islamics couldn’t enslave other islamics.

9. The Atlantic Crossing

• Conditions: 5-20% of enslaved Africans and 15-20% of the crew died on the crossing.

• Fear of Cannibalism: Africans feared Europeans as cannibals, often spurring escape attempts.

• Bonding Through Suffering: Captivity led Africans to form a common identity, with cultural and ideological resistance centered on shared suffering and exploitation.

10. Psychological Control and Community Formation

• Seasoning Adjustments: Enslaved individuals adapted to new languages, food, and social systems.

• Forms of Punishment: Included whippings, chaining, rape, and severe corporal punishment (e.g., chopping off limbs).

• Redefining Community: Enslaved Africans formed community bonds beyond blood relations, rooted in shared experiences of physical and sexual abuse.