Post on 21-Dec-2014
description
transcript
The Slave Trade
US HistoryMcIntyre
2
The Atlantic Slave Trade
When?•1450 - Spanish & Portuguese start slaving in Africa
•1865 - still smuggling slaves until the end of the civil war (technically illegal in 1808)
3
The Atlantic Slave Trade
Why? (3 reasons combined)•Labor shortage (not enough workers)
•Ethnocentrism –(feelings of superiority)
•Greed
4
The Atlantic Slave Trade
Where to?
5%
60%
35%
65%
30% 5%
Where from?
5
Phases of the Slave Trade
Capture:
•Tribes often did not have a choice in helping capture neighbors “divide and conquer”
•Most captured 50-100 miles inland
6
Phases of the Slave TradeWest African expectations about slavery:
•A slave’s child would not be a slave
•Slaves were not slaves for life
7
Phases of the Slave Trade
2. The Middle Passage
•Journey over the Atlantic Ocean
•400-500 people in a boat with little air & much disease
8
Phases of the Slave Trade
2. The Middle Passage - Tight Pack
•Higher mortality, higher profits
9
Phases of the Slave Trade3. “Seasoning” -
•Brutal work camps, 4-5 months in Caribbean•Meant to train people to be slaves
10
Thinking Question:
(Don’t write down – just think!)
Given how many people died during the “Capture phase” or on the “Middle passage,” what do you think went on in the minds of the slave catchers and slave traders?
11
Growth of Slavery
Why Africans?
•Americas are desperate for labor
•Harder for Africans to run away than Native Americans
•African strengths - agricultural practices, resistance to diseases
12
Growth of SlaveryHow did African slaves fight back?
•Open revolt (rare)
•Work slowdowns
•Breaking Tools
•Poisoning food
13
(Don’t write down – just think!)
While many slaves resisted, not all of them did. What did they have to lose?
14
Growth of SlaveryHow much did it grow?
•1800 - 1 million in slavery
•1860 - 4 million (1/3 of Southern population)
15
Growth of Slavery
Why?
•Invented 1793 - made slavery VERY productive•100x faster than by hand
•More efficient = more $ (so need more slaves)
Cotton Gin