THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE

ORIGINS, CHARACTERISTICS, LEGACY

THE BEGINNINGS OF A GLOBAL ECONOMY

• THE PORTUGUESE WENT INTO AFRICA BOTH AS A STOP ON TRADE ROUTES TO INDIA AND FOR RESOURCES AND SLAVES

• NEW WORLD PLANTATIONS GROWING CASH CROPS EXPERIENCED A LABOR SHORTAGE-NATIVE AMERICANS WERE DYING OFF; NOT ENOUGH INDENTURED SERVANTS

THE TRIANGULAR TRADE

• AFRICAN SLAVES CAPTURED WITH MANUFACTURED WEAPONS FROM EUROPE SENT TO NEW WORLD

• CASH CROPS, GROWN BY SLAVES IN THE NEW WORLD, SENT TO EUROPE

• MANUFACTURED GOODS, BUILT IN EUROPEAN FACTORIES FUNDED BY PLANTATION PROFITS, SENT TO AFRICA

THE IMMEDIATE HUMAN COST

• APPROXIMATELY 20 MILLION PEOPLE CAPTURED

• 2.5 MILLION DIED IN CAPTURE OR ON THE FORCED MARCH TO THE SLAVE CASTLES

• 2.5 MILLION DIED IN THE SLAVE CASTLES

• 2 MILLION DIED ON THE MIDDLE PASSAGE

• 5 MILLION DIED IN THE “SEASONING CAMPS” OF THE WEST INDIES

• 10 MILLION FULLY SURVIVED JOURNEY

ENDING THE SLAVE TRADE

• THE BRITISH PROFITED THE MOST FROM THE SLAVE TRADE AND HAD THE MOST PROFITABLE COLONIES, BUT WORKED TO END THE TRADE FOR ECONOMIC REASONS:

• OPPORTUNITY COST: THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION REQUIRED MORE INVESTMENT IN FACTORIES, NOT OVERSEAS PLANTATIONS

• LOSS OF MONOPOLY: AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE MEANT AMERICANS NO LONGER HAD TO PURCHASE SUGAR FROM BRITISH COLONIES AND PLANTATIONS

• HIGHER “OVERHEAD” COSTS: 1791 HAITI SLAVE REBELLION TERRIFIED THE BRITISH-MORE MILITARY RESOURCES TO PROTECT PLANTATIONS IN NEW WORLD

• ALL THESE DECREASED THE PROFITABILITY OF THE SLAVE TRADE

LONG TERM EFFECTS

• THE POPULATION AND ECONOMIES OF WEST AFRICA STAGNATED, WEAKENING AFRICAN KINGDOMS AND SOCIETIES

• EUROPEAN COUNTRIES FINANCED TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES WITH PROFITS FROM SLAVERY, GROWING THE TECHNOLOGY GAP BETWEEN EUROPE AND THE REST OF THE WORLD

• THESE PREVIOUS TWO REASONS MADE AFRICA MUCH EASIER FOR EUROPE TO COLONIZE

• BEGINNINGS OF RACISM (MORE ON THIS LATER)

• AFRICAN DIASPORA AND NEW CULTURES

• AFRICAN AMERICAN

• AFRO-CARIBBEAN

• AFRO-BRAZILIAN

RACIAL ATTITUDES YESTERDAY AND TODAY

• RACISM STARTED BECAUSE OF THE SLAVE TRADE, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND

• DURING SLAVERY, PORTRAYALS OF AFRICAN SLAVES FIT TWO STEREOTYPES:

• SIMPLE, LAZY, STUPID, WORTHY OF PITY-JUSTIFICATION FOR SLAVERY

• VIOLENT, DANGEROUS, BLOODTHIRSTY, WORTHY OF FEAR-SLAVE REBELLIONS

• THESE TWO PORTRAYALS ARE STILL COMMON IN DEPICTIONS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS TODAY-ESPECIALLY MALES

ATTITUDES TODAY

• OVER 50% OF WHITE AMERICANS BELIEVE AFRICAN AMERICANS ARE LAZIER THAN WHITES

• NEARLY 50% OF WHITE AMERICANS BELIEVE AFRICAN AMERICANS ARE LESS INTELLIGENT THAN WHITES

• WHITE AMERICANS BELIEVE AFRICAN AMERICANS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF CRIMES THAN THEY REALLY ARE

• IN 2012, 56% OF ALL AMERICANS EXPRESSED ANTI BLACK ATTITUDES

• AFRICAN AMERICANS WITH LIGHTER SKIN ARE PERCEIVED AS SMARTER AND MORE ATTRACTIVE BY BOTH WHITE AND AFRICAN AMERICANS

QUOTE TO CONSIDER“THE NEW WORLD SLAVE-PLANTATION

SOCIETY WAS THE LABORATORY OF MODERN RACISM. THE SIMPLE FACT IS NO PEOPLE

CAN ENSLAVE ANOTHER FOR FOUR CENTURIES WITHOUT COMING OUT WITH A

NOTION OF SUPERIORITY.”

-WALTER RODNEY

TRIVIA ANSWERS

• CUDJOE LEWIS WAS THE LAST SLAVE BROUGHT TO THE UNITED STATES FROM AFRICA. HE WAS BORN IN TOGO AND BROUGHT TO THE PORT OF NEW ORLEANS. HE DIED IN 1935.

• SYLVESTER MAGEE WAS THE LAST LIVING FORMER AMERICAN AMERICAN SLAVE. HE DIED IN 1971