Out of Many

Chapter 4

The development of the slavery system The history of the slave trade and the

Middle Passage Community development among African

Americans in the eighteenth century The connections between the institution

of slavery and the imperial system of the eighteenth century

The early history of racism in America

How did the modern system of slavery develop?

Has long been a part of Mediterranean Europe

Merchants would sell captured Slavic peoples, Africans, and Muslims Word “slave” derives from “Slav”

Early 15th century, the Pope excommunicated many merchants engaging in the sell of Christian peoples as slaves But, since the religions of Muslims & most

Africans were vastly different from that of Christianity, most remained quiet on the issue

Europeans wanted to trade for gold, wrought iron, ivory, tortoiseshell, textiles and slaves

Typically left the capturing of men & women to AfricansWilling to exchange the captured slaves for

European commodities The first African slave

arrived in Lisbon in 1441 Initially, most were sent to

work on sugar plantations

Columbus introduced sugar cane to Hispaniola Because of disease &

warfare, the indigenous people population has dropped dramatically

Began importing African slaves from Spain

The Portuguese, Dutch & Northeast Brazil Portugal created a sugar

production center in Brazil Became a model of the

efficient & brutal exploitation of African labor

By 1600, some 25,000 enslaved Africans labored on the plantations in Hispaniola & Brazil

Local communities, organized by kinship, led by clan leaders & village chiefs

Men often took a 2nd or 3rd wife Women bore fewer children in comparison to

European women Based on sophisticated farming system

Cleared land by burning Used hoes/digging sticks to cultivate Rotated fields to allow land to lay fallow Men cleared the fields, women cultivated

Household slavery common Did no more work than a free person Only real differences was that slave & free persons

did not eat together Many thought that European slavery would be run in

the same fashion.

What is the history of the slave trade and the Middle Passage?

“With us they did no more work than other members of the community, even their master….Their food, clothing, and lodging were nearly the same as [the others], except that they were not permitted to eat with those who were born free.”

“How different was their condition from that of the slaves of the West Indies!”

1789 wrote and published, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or

Gustavus Vassa the African.

The movement across theAtlantic to the Americaswas the largest forcedmigration in world history

Still disputes about accuracyof the numbers

10 to 12 million Africanswere transported by slaveships

Roughly 1 in 20 (est. 600,000) were transported to the British colonies of N. America

Men generally outnumbered women 2 to 1 Ages ranged from 15 to 30 Every ethnic group from West Africa was

represented

Many colonial traders lived in permanent coastal outposts & married African women

The grim business of slave raiding was left to the Africans themselves “I must own to the shame of my own countrymen, that I

was first kidnapped and betrayed by those of my own complexion.” –Ottobah Cugoano of Ghana

Most slaves were enslaved through warfare More common were small, night time raids

As demand increase, slave raiders had to go deeper into the interior, forcing the captive to walk very long distances to reach the coastal trading posts

Prisoners waited in dark dungeons called barracoons

Many times, families were split up to prevent resistance

Those chosen for transport were branded on the buttocks or back with the mark of the buyer

In the 18th century, English sailors christened the voyage of slave ships as the “Middle Passage” The middle part of a trading triangle from

England to African to America and back to England

From coastal forts, crews rowed slaves out in tiny boats to be packed onto the slave ships Packed into shelves below deck Six feet long by two & half feet high Forced to lie in “spoon fashion” One ship designed to carry 450 slaves usually

packed in 600+

Morning routine:Breakfast of beans“dancing the slave”2nd bland mealStowing away

Below deck:Lack of adequate sanitation“necessary tubs”“floor was so covered with blood & mucus that

it resembled a slaughter house”

As long as ships still had the coasts of Africa in their sites, there was great risk of revolts

As the coast diminished from view, many slaves tried to jump overboard

Captains typically placed netting around the sides of the ship to prevent the slaves from falling into the water

How did slavery in the North differ from slavery in the South?

First Africans arrived in Virginia in 1619 Slaves cost 2x’s that of an indentured servant,

yet had the same life expectancy Offered little economic benefit The Chesapeake was a “society with slaves” –-

meaning that there were many forms of labor Records show that some slaves were owned by

other Africans who had previously purchased their freedom

Sexual relations among Africans, Indians, and Europeans created a whole ethnic group of freed peoples Only later did the color of ones skin automatically

decide ones freedom Many slaves were Christians which raised many

questions

Most regulations were an accumulated piecemeal, but in 1705, Virginia gathered them into a comprehensive slave code: “bond or free only

according to the condition of the mother”

Baptism could no longer alter conditions of servitude

The death of a slave during punishment “shall not be accounted felony”

Slavery grew rapidly in the South The use of slaves made economic sense on

tobacco & rice plantations Northern slaves worked as servants,

craftsmen, and day laborers Plantation owners realized the benefits of

slaves having sexual relations “A woman who brings a child every two years

[is] more valuable than the best man on the farm for what she produces is an addition to the capital.” –Thomas Jefferson

They didn’t have to rely so much on the slave trade if their own slave population could reproduce and replenish itself

Reduced migration: Increases in wages in England reduced the supply

of immigrants to the colonies Dependable work force:

Large-plantation owners were disturbed by the political demands of small farmers and indentured servants and by the disorders of Bacon’s Rebellion. They thought that slavery would provide a stable labor force totally under their control

Cheap Labor: As tobacco prices fell, rice & indigo became the

most profitable crops. To grow such crops successfully required both a large land area and a large number of inexpensive, relatively unskilled field hands

Spanish Colonies Slavery in Florida was very benign Conditions resembled the household slavery

common in Mediterranean & African communities Spanish declared FL a refuge for escaped slaves

from the British colonies, offering them free land French Louisiana

The French Company of the Indies imported 6,000 slaves

Planters invested in tobacco & indigo North

Not “slave societies” Slave ownership was universal among the wealthy

& ordinary among craftsmen & professionals Quakers of PA & NJ were first to voice anti-slavery

sentiment

How did African slaves attempt to preserve African culture in America?

1641, Massachusetts became the first colony to recognize the slavery of “lawful” captives

Virginia 1661, children took the status (free or slave) of their mother

1664, Maryland locked African slaves into bondage by declaring baptism did not affect their status

White women could not marry African American men

Became customary for whites to regard blacks as social inferiors

Racism & slavery became an integral part of American colonial society

Slave codes prevented slaves from legally marrying one another“How can [wives] submit

themselves to theirhusbands in all things? Howcan [children] obey theirparents in all things?”

Planters commonlyseparated families bysale or bequest

Generally, slave couples“married” when the woman became pregnantMarriages performed amongst themselves Jumping the broomstick

Had separate graveyards Decorated the headstones with shells & pottery Burial held at night to keep it secret Danced & sang around the deceased

“a nation of dancers, musicians, and poets” 18th century – invention of an African

American language A mixed dialect between the Guinea & English

Africanization of the South Both whites & blacks had faith in slave conjurers

& herb doctors Introduced African styles of food & cooking Slave mothers nursed white children

Slaves were whipped or beaten by their masters for disobedience, running away, etc.

The idea was to make slaves “stand in fear”

How did slavery fuel the economic development of Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries?

Generated enormous profits that became a source of capital investing in the economy

Supplied the raw cotton essential to the Industrial Revolution

Provided an enormous stimulus to the growth of manufacturing by creating a huge colonial market for exports

The slave colonies accounted for 95% of the exports from the Americas to Great Britain from 1714-1773

All trade in empire to be conducted in English or colonial ships

Channeling of colonial trade through England or another English colony

Subsidization of English goods offered for sale in the colonies

Colonists prohibited from large-scale manufacture of certain products

Imperial officials argued that colonies existed solely for the benefit of the mother country

Mercantilism = an economic system whereby the government intervenes in the economy for the purpose of increasing national wealth

The monarchy & Parliament established: a uniform nat’l monetary system regulated wages encouraged agriculture & manufacturing w/subsidies erected tariff barriers to protect themselves from foreign

competition Sought to organize & control colonial trade to the max

advantage of its own shippers, merchants, manufacturers & bureaucrats

Believed that the essence of the competition between states was the struggle to acquire and hoard the fixed amount of wealth that existed in the world. Thus, whoever had the most gold/silver would be the most powerful

King William’s War, 1689-97 France & England battle on the northern frontiers of New

England & NY Queen Anne’s War, 1702-13

England fights France & Spain in the Caribbean and on the northern frontier of New France. Part of the European conflict known as the War of the Spanish Succession

War of Jenkin’s Ear, 1739-43 Great Britain versus Spain in the Caribbean & GA. Part of

the European conflict known as the War of the Austrian Succession

King George’s War, 1744-48 Great Britain & France fight in Acadia & Nova Scotia; the

third Anglo-French war in North America; the second American round of the War of the Austrian Succession

French & Indian War, 1754-63 Last of the great colonial wars pitting Great Britain

against France & Spain. Known in Europe as the Seven Years’ War

Between 1651 & 1696, Parliament passed a series of Navigation ActsCreated the legal & institutional structure of

Britain’s colonial systemDefined the colonies as both suppliers of raw

materials & as markets for English manufactured goods.

Merchants from other nations forbidden to trade in colonies

Specified a list of “enumerated commodities” that could only be shipped to England Sugar, molasses, rum, tobacco, rice, indigo, furs,

skins, pine masts, tar, pitch, resin, & turpentine Most were not for English consumption, but rather

reexported elsewhere

Wool Act of 1699 Hat Act of 1732 Iron Act of 1750 Colonies were forbidden to place tariffs

on English imports Local banking & coinage disallowed

Some colonies were in desperate need of money and had started to print/mint their own

Began to depend on “commodity money” & foreign currency Used official rates of exchange

Southern slave owners enjoyed a protected market in which competing goods from outside the empire were heavily taxed

PA, NY, New England & the Chesapeake began to produce flour, meat, & dairy products None of these were enumerated goods, so they

could be sold freely Resulted in larger purchasing

power & profits Colonial exports

Chesapeake = tobacco South Carolina = rice & indigo Middle Colonies = wheat

How did slavery shape southern colonial society?

Was no formal colonial aristocracy – no royal recognition of rank

Wealthy planters were at the top of the social structure“First Families of Virginia”

Elected to the House of Burgesses Became a self-perpetuating governing class

Typical southern landownerSlave ownership became widespread in this class

Poor & landlessSome rented land or worked as tenant farmersHired out as overseers or farm workersSome were indentured servants

However poor a white might be, having white skin was a tremendous advantage

Laws stated that the mother determined a baby’s free or unfree status

Many white men’s children were raised as slaves

Laws also insured that privileges of citizenship were restricted to whites

These helped to insure a sense of distance between the races and a sense of superiority among the white population

In large part it was the labor of African slaves that produced the goods that

made the New World economies grow.

1. What characteristics of Africa made it vulnerable to being a source for slaves? Was the slave trade something Europeans did to Africans or did African actively participate in it?

2. Prior to 1500 slavery was rarely found in Europe. Why did Europeans suddenly start trying to get slaves? How did the changing economy affect the slave trade?

3. The text refers to “Shock of Enslavement.” Why was this so great? How did slaves respond to it?

4. How did slavery vary in different places? Compare slavery in the Chesapeake with slavery in the Lower South, North, New Spain, and New France.

5. The authors refer to the emergence of African American culture. What do they mean by this? By what process did this take place?

6. What was the nature of the conflict between the English and French empires? How did slavery play into this? What other factors led to the nearly century of warfare between the two nations?

7. How would you characterize the white place in slave societies? Were all whites members of the elite class?