History Text Book Notes and Quiz #13 - 15.4

What are the approximate numbers of Africans enslaved?

1500s - approximately 2,000 enslaved Africans were sent to the Americas per year 1780s - slave trade at its peak - almost 80,000 slaves per year sent to the Americas mid-1800s - when overseas slave trade finally stopped - approximately 11 million slaves had reached the America's and another 2 million probably died before reaching the America's

Who was Olaudah Equiano?

An enslaved African who later wrote an autobiography - one of the few records from the Africans. He formed part of an international trade network that arose during the 1500s

What was the Triangular trade? What did it link?

Atlantic slave trade made one part of a three-legged international trade network - triangular trade. It was a triangle-shaped series of Atlantic routes linking Europe, Africa, and the America's.

When did the terrible journey begin for enslaved Africans? How were they treated on the first leg of their journey?

Before they even set sail. Most Africans were taken from inland villages. After they were enslaved, they were forced to march to coastal ports. Men, women, and kids were bound with ropes and chains - often to one another - and forced to walk distances as long as 1,000 miles. They also might be forced to carry heavy loads, and often men's necks were encircled with thick iron bands. Many died along the way, and others tried to escape and were often quickly recaptured and brutally punished.

What did slave trading bring to merchants and traders? How did it affect colonies?

Enormous wealth to merchants and traders and provided the labor that helped profitable colonial economies grow.

Thriving trade led to successful port cities like what cities/towns where?

European cities like Nantes, France and Bristol, England, grew prosperous because of triangular trade In North America, even newly settled towns like Salem, Massachusetts and Newport, Rhode Island quickly grew into thriving cities - Even though few slaves were imported directly to the northern cities, the success of the port cities there was made possible by the Atlantic slave trade.

What was the first leg of the triangular trade?

Merchant ships brought European goods (including guns, cloth, and cash) to Africa. In Africa, the merchants traded these goods for slaves.

What was the final leg of the triangular trade?

Merchants carried sugar, molasses, cotton, and other American goods like furs, salt fish, and rum made from molasses. These goods were shipped to Europe, where they were traded at a profit for the European commodities the merchants needed to go back to Africa.

How did merchants and some industries thrive in the triangular trade?

Merchants grew wealthy even though there were risks like losing ships at sea - the money to be made form valuable cargoes outweighed the risks Certain industries thrived... for example: A shipbuilding industry in New England grew to support the shipping industry. Other Colonial industries like fishing, raising tobacco, and processing sugar became hugely successful.

Who received a profit from the triangular trade?

Merchants, Certain industries that supported trade, and successful port cities.

What was the second leg of the triangular trade known as? What was shipped?

Middle Passage - the slaves were transported to the Americas. There the enslaved Africans were exchanged for sugar, molasses, and other products manufactured at plantations owned by Europeans.

When slaves died on board boats, what were the usual causes?

Most died of dysentery; many of smallpox; many others died from apparently no disease at all. Whatever the cause, slave ships became "floating coffins" on which up to half of the Africans on board died from disease or brutal mistreatment

What were the conditions like for slaves while crossing the Atlantic?

Once purchased, they were packed below the decks of slave ships - usually in chains. 100s of men, women, and kids were crammed into a single vessel for voyages lasting from 3 weeks to 3 months. The ships faced many perils, including storms at sea, raids by pirate ships, and mutinies by the captives. But Disease was the biggest threat to the lives of the captives and the profit of the merchants.

What are mutinies?

Revolts

Why did some African's commit suicide? What else did some Africans do?

Some enslaved Africans resisted and others tried to seize control of the ship and return to Africa. But suicide was more common than mutiny because many Africans believed that in death they would be returned to their home countries. So they hanged themselves, starved themselves, or leapt overboard.

Who were the first major European partners in the slave trade?

The Spanish - they bought slaves to labor in Spain's South American empire. As other European powers established colonies in the Americas the slave trade intestified.

How did the Slave Trade effect African societies and lives?

The impact on Africans was devastating; African states and societies were torn apart and the lives of individual Africans were either cut short or forever brutalized.

If a slave survived the trek to the coast, what happened at the coast?

They were restrained in coastal holding pens and warehouses in slave shipping ports like Elmina, Ghana, or Gorée, Senegal. They were often held there until European traders arrived by ship.