Africa & the Africans in the Age of the Atlantic Slave Trade. · 2020-03-23 · trade/barter...
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Africa & the Africans in the Age of the Atlantic Slave Trade. Chapter 20
Transcript of Africa & the Africans in the Age of the Atlantic Slave Trade. · 2020-03-23 · trade/barter...
Africa & the Africans in the Age of the Atlantic
Slave Trade.Chapter 20
What stands out with pic below?
Maritime Trade
O Small scale
trade/barter → large
scale international
trade (gold & silver).
O Joint stock company
(East India
company)- investors
bought shares in
company.
Commercial Revolution
O Large trade based
using silver & gold
due to:
O Overseas colonies
O New ocean trade
route
O Population growth
O Inflation (Price
Revolution)
Atlantic Slave Trade
O Portuguese led
explorations to
African coasts-set up
factories such as El
Mina.
O More interested in
trade than conquests
→ more peaceful
relations with African
rulers.
Atlantic Slave TradeO Slave trade developed
slowly as one of the many
commodities.
O Development of sugar
plantations raised the
need for slave labor.
Trend Toward Expansion
O Approx 12m slaves
over 4 C.
O High mortality rates
(on board & on
plantations) kept the
demand high.
O Brazil rec’d about
42% of the slaves.
Demographic Patterns
O The trans-Saharan
slave trade was
mostly women
(concubines) in
Islamic lands, while
the trans-Atlantic
slave took mainly
men for agriculture.
Organization of the Trade
O Portugal controlled slave trade →(1630) competition increased & the Dutch seized El Mina in 1637 → the British Royal Africa Company was followed by similar French enterprises.
Organization of the Trade
O Purchases of slaves
were made through
local rulers (sporadic
slave raids).
O Dahomey & Oyo sold
captives to
Europeans.
Economics
O Indies piece: a
system of setting
prices based on a
healthy male slave.
Slaving & African PoliticsO Europeans tapped
into the established
slave trade, but also
intensified it.
O 2/3 males →
polygyny & women to
take on male roles.
East Africa & the Sudan
O The Swahili East coast
was part of the Indian
Ocean trading area,
bringing ivory, slaves &
gold from the interior.
O Clove plantation using
slaves developed in
Zanzibar & other
islands.
East Africa & the Sudan
O Bantu were organized
into chiefdoms & their
mov’t further South led to
contact with the Dutch
settlers who were in
search of farmland.
White Settlers & Africans in Southern Africa
O Under British rule from 1815, the expansion of the Cape colony led to warfare with the Bantu.
O Boer Great Trek: coincided with upheavals among the Bantu peoples.
Mfecane & the Zulu Rise to Power
O New leader (Shaka
Zulu) of the Nguni
peoples in 1818 led
to the development
of a powerful Zulu
state.
O Shaka’s work was
part of the mfecane.
Slave Lives
O Slave trade not
only brought
slaves forcibly
into an alien
culture, but it
also brought
foreign products
into Africa.
Slave LivesO Middle
Passage
was always
traumatic
for slaves &
often
lethal.
Africans in the Americas
O Africans in
the
Americas
were
typically
employed in
agriculture,
but other
occupations
existed.
American Slave Societies
O Hierarchy developed
distinguishing
saltwater slaves (newly
arrived) from their
creole descendants.
O The latter could gain
more skill work in
better conditions &
stood a better chance
at being manumitted.
American Slave Societies
O Slave communities were sometimes divided along lines similar to that of Africa.
O Population grew to as much as 80% of colonial populations.
O NA slave population had a higher birthrate & less need for newly enslaved Africans.
People & Gods in Exile O Africans in slavery tried
to maintain as much of their culture as possible (1 in 10 enslaved Africans was Muslim).
O Africans converted to Christianity but obeah survived (Brazil (Candomblé), Cuba (Santeria) & Haiti: (Vodun).
People & Gods in Exile
O Slave revolts were
common, but most
failed. Few
exceptions:
Palmares, a
community in Brazil,
maroons in Jamaica
& Suriname.
End of Slave Trade & the Abolition of Slavery
O Abolition resulted from changes outside of Africa.
O Main impulse came from intellectuals such as William Wilberforce.
O British stopped slave trade in 1807.
O Slavery was abolished in the Americas when Brazil stopped the practice in 1888.
