SLAVES: A POPULAR ITEM OF TRADE 1450-15001000 African slaves brought annually to Portugal...
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Transcript of SLAVES: A POPULAR ITEM OF TRADE 1450-15001000 African slaves brought annually to Portugal...
SLAVES: A POPULAR ITEM OF TRADE1450-1500 1000 African slaves brought annually to Portugal
1500s Earliest sugar plantations in the Americas
1518 First boatload of slaves brought directly to Africa on a Spanish ship
16th c. 275,000 slaves exported from Africa, 2000/year to Americas alone.
17th c. > 1 million slaves taken from Africa
18th c. 6 million
19th c. 2 million (despite British laws like the Abolition of Slave Trade Act, 1807, and Slavery Abolition Act, 1833)
100-day voyage across Atlantic
10% mortality rate
Causes of death:• Unsanitary conditions• Rebellions• “Disposal” in case of lack of food• Disease
DEHUMANIZING AFRICANS: THE MIDDLE PASSAGE
BIG PROFITSFrom the early 16th to the 19th centuries, a total of 10 million slaves were brought to the Americas from Africa.
About one half of all slave trade was carried out by Britain. The rest of the slaves were brought in by French, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, and American ships.
DEHUMANIZING AFRICANS: THE LANGUAGE OF COMMODIFICATION
In the 1770s, Quakers were among the earliest opponents of slavery
In the 1790s, Revolutionary France briefly abolished slavery
Slavery continued in Americas until the late nineteenth century. The US had laws to prevent slaves from running away. By an 1850 law, American officials who failed to arrest an alleged runaway would be fined $1000. So would anyone helping a runaway slave.
1865 Slavery abolished in the US
1888 Slavery finally ended in the Americas, with abolition in Brazil
PERSISTENCE OF SLAVERY