TRANS ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE 1770-1807
Slavery means:
Being under the control of another person, often carrying out work under harsh conditions for little or no pay. If you are a slave you are not free to go where you want or decide what you will or won’t do.
The rights of slaves 1764 Slaves are property and can be sold Masters can do as they like with their slaves Masters must destroy slave culture Slaves are given new names Slaves can be killed Slaves cannot marry Slaves cannot be educated
Slaves must be locked up at night Slaves must wear a ball and chain Slaves cannot become Christians Slaves cannot possess property/sell anything All blacks are/can be treated as slaves Slaves’ children are the property of the master
The Slave Trade
Copy this diagram into your jotter. European Slave Traders arrive in Africa
Demand for slaves grows as huge profits are made
Africans used to kidnap slaves for the Triangular Trade
Slaves taken to the Americas
BECOMING A SLAVE
How did you Become a Slave? For many people, life as a slave began after being captured – often as the result of a war
Yoked
Chained
Exercise 1 Case Study: The Ashanti • The Ashanti people were one of the most powerful tribes in
Africa, they held a vast empire in West Africa and took over many other territories often using new technology like guns. They were known as some of the fiercest warriors in Africa and were able to stop European powers taking them over. They were also one of the biggest traders of slaves to the British in the 18th and early 19th century. • Think about this information and decide the answer to these two questions: 1.What reasons could the Ashanti have to want to trade slaves? Think about the benefits to them. 2.Why would being involved with European powers benefit the Ashanti’s own empire?
But why would someone of the same race, nationality or colour as the “slaves” want to capture them and sell them to White people – knowing what life lay ahead of them…?
Manilla • Worn by women to show the power and prestige of their husbands. OR • Iron could be melted down and made into weapons/tools • Became a form of currency. Metal Pot • Cooking • West Africans did not have knowledge to produce goods like this.
Cotton Shirt • Clothing, blankets, etc. • Prestige object – made them look important
Beads • Jewellery or decoration. • Prestige object – made them look good
Rum • New tastes, flavours. • New sensation of getting drunk!
Musket • Hunting for food. • Make war on rival tribes better.
Exercise 2 Source analysis • Here is a description from an African slave about his kidnap at age
11:
“One day, when all our people were gone out to their works as usual, and only I and my dear sister were left to mind the house, two men and a woman got over our walls, and in a moment seized us both; and, without giving us time to cry out, or make resistance, they stopped our mouths, and ran off with us into the nearest wood. Here they tied our hands, and continued to carry us as far as they could, till night came on, when we reached a small house, where the robbers halted for refreshment, and spent the night.” 1. Why could the person who wrote this source be particularly useful to us? 2. What emotions do you think these children would feel at this time? 3. How do we know that the slaves were valuable to these traders?
WHAT HAPPENED AFTER BEING CAPTURED?
Most of the captured slaves were taken to West Africa.
They were forced to walk from wherever they were captured to the west coast – sometimes hundreds of miles
This was known as a “Coffle”
• Those who
collapsed from hunger and Sickness – and could not be “convinced” to keep going were simply abandoned and left for the wild animals or vultures.
Slaves were initially kept in Barracoons – large enclosures – and were often kept chained together.
A Slave Factory 1.
Slaves arrive at the slave factory from the mainland.
2.
The slaves are given a health inspection by a surgeon.
3.
The healthy slaves are separated from the ‘Second Raters’.
4. The slaves are separated by gender and imprisoned.
Cape Coast Castle:
One of the slave factories on the coast of Ghana
The The doorway doorway to to the the slave slave dungeon. dungeon. African African captives captives were were crammed crammed into into this this dungeon dungeon to to await await the the slave slave ships. ships.
The The Door Door of of No No Return Return The Thecaptives captiveswere were forced forcedalong alongthis this corridor and out corridor and outon onto to the theslave slaveships, ships,never never to toreturn return
At the trading stations they were sold to white dealers.
Before being put on board the slave ships the slaves would be “branded�.
Captives being forced into the hold. They might be imprisoned there for the whole period of the voyage
THE SLAVE TRADE “Triangular Trade”
The “Triangular Trade”
The “Triangular Trade”
Guns, Iron goods or textiles
The First Leg Slave ships were loaded
up in Britain with manufactured goods:
Rum, textiles, beads and
metal goods, like this cooking pot, and guns.
These were transported
to West Africa and exchanged for slaves.
The “Triangular Trade”
Guns, Iron goods or textiles
The Second Leg
Slaves going from Africa to America or the Carribean.
The “Triangular Trade”
Guns, Iron goods or textiles
The Home Run The ships were then
loaded with the luxury produce created by slave labour on the plantations: Rum, tobacco, cotton
and sugar. These were sold for a
high prices in Europe.
The “Triangular Trade”
WHY DID BRITAIN BECOME INVOLVED IN THE SLAVE TRADE?
Sugar Sugar cane cane was was first first grown grown in in the the West West Indies Indies in in the the 15th 15th century. century.
The production of sugar increased in the 17th and 18th centuries. Before the use of sugar, honey was the main natural sweetener used in food and drink in Britain.
When coffee, tea and cocoa became popular there was a huge increase in the demand for sugar to sweeten these drinks.
The Slave Trade – the Facts The The Trans-Atlantic Trans-Atlantic slave slave trade trade between between West West Africa Africa and and the the Caribbean Caribbean lasted lasted for for more more than than three three hundred hundred years. years. Many Many Europeans Europeans were were involved involved in in the the trade trade including including the the Portugese, Portugese, Spanish, Spanish, Dutch, Dutch, British British and and French. French. 11 11 million million Africans Africans were were forced forced into into slavery slavery and and forced forced on on slave slave ships ships bound bound for for the the Caribbean Caribbean and and America. America. British British slave slave ships ships carried carried over over 33 million million Africans Africans to to slavery-more slavery-more than than any any other other country! country!
The Themain mainBritish Britishports ports Liverpool, before it’s involved ininthe Liverpool, before it’s involved theslave slavetrade trade involvement ininthe were London, and involvement theslave slave were London,Liverpool Liverpool and trade, had a population 5000. Bristol. trade, had a population 5000. Bristol.
AAhundred hundredyears yearslater, later,the the population populationwas wasover over78,000! 78,000!
DID SCOTLAND GET INVOLVED?
Have you ever? • Have you heard anyone refer to Glasgow as being the
‘Empire’s Second City’? • Glasgow’s claim can be traced back to the TransAtlantic Slave Trade! • As a result of Glasgow’s involvement, her development into an industrial society was faster than any city in England at the time!
Of Ofall allthe theScottish Scottishtowns townsand andcities, cities,Glasgow Glasgowbenefited benefitedthe themost most from fromthe theslave slavetrade trade
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The “Middle Passage”
The “Middle Passage” The “Middle Passage” took an average of 2 – 3 months. During this time the slaves were treated like cargo – or even animals!
• Out of the 12 million slaves to leave
Africa, an estimated 1.75 – 2 million died on the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.
There were two methods of transport: Tight Pack – As many slaves were crammed and stacked
into the ship as possible by making them lie on their sides, rather than their backs. Many would die on the journey but plenty would survive to ensure a good return. Loose Pack – Slaves had more space to move and breathe.
Fewer slaves were taken and fewer died. Those that survived made greater profit because they were healthier.
What are the advantages/disadvantages for the traders of each method?
“Tight Pack” “On Deck”
“Below Deck”
“On Deck” – this is what it might have looked like on board a Slave Ship
“Below Deck”
A model showing how cramped the living conditions would have been
SLAVE REVOLTS (Onboard Slave Ships)
Slave Reaction to Conditions (a woman when asked what she wanted replied). “nothing but to die” – and she did.
(a man) "refused all sustenance after he came on board. Early the next morning it was found that he had attempted to cut his own throat.
Others became much more violent in their actions…
The 1839 revolt on the Spanish ship Amistad, carrying slaves to Cuba, resulted in the death of the ship's captain.
A Slave Revolt
Force Feeding of Slaves
A Speculum Oris
Thumb Screw
Whipped
Sometimes the slaves were thrown overboard.
SELLING SLAVES Slave Auctions
The crew on board shaved
the slaves (to prevent the spread of lice) and washed them in fresh water.
Rust or black lead was
used to hide wounds caused by the shackles.
Then, beeswax or olive oil
would be rubbed into the slaves’ skin to give them a shiny, healthy appearance.
Before the sale, white slave masters were given the opportunity to “inspect� the produce they were about to buy.
The auctioneer would describe the slave to the buyers, suggesting what sort of work he (or she) would be best used for and then proceed to sell to the highest bidder.
The second form of sale
was by ‘scramble’. ‘On a signal given the buyers rushed into the yard where the slaves were kept, and chose the ones they liked the best. The noise and eagerness shown in the faces of the buyers increased the fear of the terrified Africans. In this way relations and friends were separated, most of them never to see each other again.’ Olaudah Equiano
Early colonisation of the West Indies and surrounding areas showed the potential to grow tropical crops commercially. These crops included; •Tobacco •Sugar •Coffee •Cacao •Cotton These goods, especially sugar, were highly valuable because of their rarity in Europe.
The Caribbean and West Indies had grown tobacco in its early plantations. From the late 16th century tobacco had become extremely popular throughout the British Isles and Europe. Sir Walter Raleigh had made it fashionable in society. It was seen as a miracle medicine, curing anything from stomach ache to a gunshot wound, snakebites to bad breath. Tobacco was the most profitable export from the Caribbean in the early 1600s.
However, King James I was a man ahead of his time and disliked it immensely. He described smoking as a “custome loathsome to they eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs.� He was opposed to the use of tobacco and taxed it in England. Tobacco was difficult to grow and hard work all year round. The Caribbean and West Indies struggled to keep up with the massive plantations of states like Virginia and began producing sugar cane instead.
From the ______, tobacco had become popular throughout ______. It was seen as a miracle medicine, curing anything from a ______ ______ to a gunshot wound. ______ ______ __ disliked tobacco and imposed a ______ upon it in England. Tobacco was ______ to grow and ______ work all year round. The West Indies struggled to keep up with the plantations of ______ so began producing ______ instead. Sugar
Europe hard Virginia tax
16th Century King James I difficult Stomach ache
Sugar was often called ‘white gold’ and made massive profits for Europeans for over 300 years. Sugar cane was (and still is) difficult to grow. Planting, weeding, harvesting and sugar production involved hard work all year round. Read the next source. What does ‘sugar production’ involved? What are the dangers?
Most slaves worked on the large plantations all year round. The work was long and wearisome, usually under the hot sun. After working in the fields the slaves went back to little communities near the big house, where they tended vegetable gardens and made their own meal. Some plantation owners allowed slaves to live as families as any children born would be his slaves. The owner could also threaten to sell wives, husbands or children away from their families. Some slaves were treated well if the owner was kind or looked after his property. Some slaves were treated terribly if their owners were cruel.
Slaves in the house had an easier time as the work was not so hard but they were under their master or mistress’s eye. Many house slaves thought themselves above field slaves and lived in fear of losing their position. Slaves were used as nurses, butlers, cooks and other servant tasks. Sometimes they were very close to the owner’s family.
Life for slaves was very difficult‌
Slaves usually received two linen shirts, two pairs of trousers, one jacket, one pair of socks, one pair of shoes, an overcoat, and a wool hat‌every year!
Daily Life of a Slave 9.00am - Breakfast
Yams
Okra
Plantains
Noon – lunchtime
Salted or pickled herring with vegetables
eight pounds (3.5 kg) of pork or fish each month for food – that’s about 100g per day!
Life as a Slave Source C was written by Bryan Edwards, a plantation owner in the West Indies in 1801. A bell summons the first gang of field workers just before sunrise. They bring with them their tools, and food for their breakfast. They are supervised by a white man and a black ‘driver’. After the roll is called and the absentees noted, they go off to the fields till 8 or 9 o’ clock. Then they sit down to breakfast which some of the women have cooked. This is usually boiled vegetables such as yams, okra or plantains, seasoned with salt and cayenne pepper. By this time most of the absentees arrive, and are punished by a few stripes of the driver’s whip. They get half an hour for breakfast, and then go back to the fields till noon. They get two hours to eat and rest, and many of them sleep. Their lunch is vegetables with salt or pickled herring. At two o’clock the bell rings to get them back to the fields. They work till sunset, or very soon after. Sometimes they get some rum if the day has been wet or the work very hard.
The way slaves were treated was up to the owner as they were his property, and if he was very cruel then punishments could be very severe. Often they were •Whipped •Branded •Crippled •Sold Some slaves found themselves to be owned by someone else as payment for a gambling debt or as a present!
Slaves were not allowed away from the plantation unless they had a pass from their master. Slave patrols made up of poor white men used to patrol the roads and check passes. A slave without a pass would be whipped by the patrol then taken back to their master.
Punishment
 These pictures are taken from A Narrative of a Five Year
Expedition Against the Revolted Negroes of Suriname by John Gabriel Stedman, a Scottish-Dutch soldier.
Punishment ‘The Branks’ was an
iron muzzle.
Slaves often had to
endure this punishment for over a week while they worked.
They could not eat or
drink and so their health was weakened.
Punishment
Many runaway slaves were kept in the dreaded ‘House of Correction’ until their owners came to collect them. They were often punished on the Treadmill.
THE PLANTATION SYSTEM
What is this? What was it used for?
A Silver Whip. To punish domestic
‘house slaves’ for minor transgressions in their work. It would have been
used by the plantation owner’s wife.
The Plantation System
 A plantation had to be well and strictly organised to ensure it
made a profit and to prevent the slaves from rebelling.
Scars from being whipped
The Plantation System FACTORS field slaves (AGENTS) that survived Factors trusted into ‘old were age’ were employees who were trained in certain trades employed to look after such as barrel making, the day to and day running of carpentry the plantation blacksmithing Pay while (particularly when the some were made owner wasThey absent). servants. received extra privileges – cast-off clothing, better food and Fear of better accommodation Violence
Owner
Factor Overseer House Slave Field Slave
They Overseers were forced - Europeans to work employed against their to ensure will in the that the slaves fields planting, did the cultivating work. Theyharvesting and had the power the crops to whipwould that slavesmake who were the disobedient, owner a vastlazy profit. or The those Privileges that ran away average working life of a field slave was seven years
The Abolitionist Campaign The Case of the Zong
Below is a recreation of the slaver ship, the Zong
The case of the Zong • The Zong was captained by Luke Collingwood and in
Sept. 1781 it set sail from Cape Coast to Jamaica • Below deck, he had a cargo of slaves which numbered 442 • During the voyage, the ship went off course and it was clear that they were not going to make it to Jamaica in time
The case of the Zong • Whilst the crew began to worry about water supplies, the
slaves began to get ill • Collingwood knew that if too many slaves died during the journey, he would not make any profit • He also knew that the slaves were insured by Gilbert & Co. (a Liverpool based firm) • Collingwood argued that ‘If the slaves were thrown alive into the sea to save the crew it would be the loss of the insurers.’
Between 29 Nov. and 1 Dec. 1781, 132 sick slaves were thrown overboard to their deaths
Collingwood had been ill during the voyage and died as a result soon after arriving in Jamaica – the remaining 200 slaves were sold
• When the Zong returned to Liverpool, £30 was demanded
from the insurers for each slave that had died • But the insurers discovered that the Zong still had 1910 litres of water when it arrived in Jamaica • So the story about lack of water was not true
• Also the ship’s log disappeared – so there was no
documented evidence • The insurers refused to pay and went to court in 1783
• The court saw nothing wrong in killing Blacks to save the
crew; they (Blacks) were ‘simply goods and property… [The] case is the same as if horses had been thrown overboard’ • The insurers had to pay the £30 for each slave – that is worth up to £36,000 today!
The Abolitionist Campaign Concerns Regarding Slavery
Draw this table in your jotters Religious arguments
Humanitarian arguments
Economic arguments
Classify the following arguments against the slave trade under the correct heading.
The Society produced many arguments against the slave trade. • Sugar could be produced more cheaply by free workers in Bengal,
British India.
• Many British sailors died on the Triangular Trade. • The Bible taught that people should treat each other with kindness
and love.
• God created mankind as brothers and sisters. • The slave trade broke several of the Ten Commandments. • Britain’s industries no longer depended on the Triangular Trade. • Britain’s new factories had many openings for unemployed people. • Britain’s trade with India and the Far East was growing rapidly. • The slave trade brutalised all those who took part in it.
The Abolitionist Campaign The Abolitionist Movement
Key Players • Granville Sharp • Thomas Clarkson • Olaudah Equiano • William Wilberforce • John Newton
• In 1761, the Quakers
(or Society of Friends) banned anyone involved in the slave trade from joining their society • After the case of the Zong, two well educated young men joined the cause for the abolition of slavery
Granville Sharp
Thomas Clarkson
Granville Sharp
• Civil Servant • Disturbed at the treatment
of Africans • Tried to have the Zong’s crew charged with murder • He had previously won cases for slaves within Britain
Thomas Clarkson
Granville Sharp
• Civil Servant • Disturbed at the treatment
of Africans • Tried to have the Zong’s crew charged with murder • He had previously won cases for slaves within Britain
Thomas Clarkson
• Studied in Cambridge • Whilst there, he entered
an essay writing competition – the essay was on the slave trade • This sparked a keen interest and he sought to find out more • His ambition was to expose the evils of the slave trade
Granville Sharp
Thomas Clarkson
The two men met in 1786 – by 1787 they had formed the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade
Who would have supported the Salve Trade in Britain?
Plantation Owners Factory Owners Landowners Members of Parliament Cities with Harbours Upper Class
• The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade wanted to
see the slave trade abolished completely • However, they realised that they would have faced a lot of opposition • So they decided to take several steps in order to achieve their goal • Step One: • Stop British ships from carrying Africans to the West Indies to be sold as slaves
• The Abolitionists believed that they could turn people
away from the slave trade if they educated them in the reality of the slave trade • To achieve this, they began to work with the Sons of Africa movement • These were freed slaves who toured the abolitionist meetings, speaking about their experiences • They also wrote books
Sons of Africa Olaudah Equiano (Gustavus Vassa)
Below: Equiano’s book
Sons of Africa Olaudah Equiano (Gustavus Vassa)
Ottabah Cugoano (John Stuart)
The Abolitionist Campaign Methods used
• At the turn of the 18th Century, thousands of books and
pamphlets were published, attacking the salve trade • However, roughly about half of the British population could read • So the Abolitionist movement were in need of other methods to convince people of the horrors of the slave trade
• Clarkson travelled around Britain and West Africa
collecting evidence of the slave trade • Whilst on speaking tours, he brought a chest containing items for ‘show and tell’ • He had shackles, thumbscrews and whips to show the public how
the Africans were treated • He also had good produced by the Africans: this demonstrated that Africa had more to offer than the people that inhabited the land
Other Methods • collected eyewitness statements of the slave trade • delivered a simple message with a logo and a catch phrase • produced information leaflets to give out at public meetings • recruited influential people in the local community to their
cause • Organised local petitions, signed by thousands, to send to Parliament • lobby Members of Parliament to vote for the ban. • Sent letters appealing for funds.
The Arts • 1789: Abolitionists
printed 7,000 posters of the ship and distributed them across the country. This picture remains one of the most enduring images associated with the slave trade. • Anti-slavery poems William Cowper and William Wordsworth were popular- some, like Cowper's 'The Negro's Complaint', were set to music.
slave ship 'Brookes' packed with 482 enslaved people
The arts • Advantages : • engaged people on an emotional level. • They evoked sympathy and horror • They did not rely on people taking part in debates or analysing statistical information.
• Josiah Wedgewood, the
famous potter, was an abolitionist • He created the unofficial logo of the cause • This logo was emblazoned on Wedgewood’s pottery as well as on jewellery such as pendants and brooches
Campaigning inside Parliament • Wilberforce influenced
by preaching's of John Newton. • Joined the Society for the Abolition of the slave trade, and soon became its leader. • Was friends with members of Parliament and the PM at that time, William Pitt
The Abolitionist Campaign Pro-Slavery Campaigners
• Despite the attempts to raise awareness of the horrors of
the slave trade, some still supported it • Who was still against the slave trade? • People who made vast fortunes by owning plantations in the West
Indies or those directly involved in selling slaves • They made speeches and wrote articles in magazines • In Parliament, the opposition was well-organised and powerful – they made speeches supporting the trade and used delaying tactics to slow down any bill. • They also launched Parliamentary inquiries – supporters of slavery gave evidence supporting the slave trade
What about the cities that benefited? • People from Liverpool and Bristol campaigned against
abolition in various ways • The mayor of Liverpool lobbied Parliament to avoid abolition,
claiming that it would do serious harm to the city
Events outside of Britain • French Revolution 1789 • This caused fear and panic to spread across Britain • Slave uprising in Saint-Domingue (Haiti) • The slaves rose up and ended slavery – many of the slave owners were killed • British leaders were worried that similar rebellions would take place in British colonies – they claimed the abolition campaign would encourage this
The Abolitionist Campaign Why was it ended?
• Abolitionists: • They tireless campaigning had changed the minds of many, including the Prime Minister Lord Grenville, who came to power in 1806 • Economic Arguments • Some say the slave trade ended as it was not as profitable as it once had been – sugar could be produced cheaper in India without the use of slaves. • Also, the Industrial Revolution had led to the development of new businesses which offered less risky ways of making profit • Slave Rebellions • By 1806, complaints from fearful plantation owners about the hostility of their slaves increased.
• The Bill was first presented in April 1792 by William
Wilberforce and supported by the PM. • Bill defeated- The slave traders and plantation owners had too many friends and allies in the House of Commons. • Each year Wilberforce reintroduced the Bill, those against it grew fewer each time. • Finally in 1807 his Bill passed the House of Commons!
Finally…Success! • 1807- Bill finally passed by House of Commons and
House of Lords • British ships were banned from taking part in the slave trade.