Atlantic Slave Trade Final Exam

Slavery in the Americas Caribbean: British Example

*-Barbados (1620s)- the first sugar colony* -cut down trees and started plantations as the center of British activity in the Americas in the 17th century, the *sugar produced on Barbados was of the greatest importance* -Jamaica (1655) -*Jamaica becomes the largest British island and the 2nd biggest sugar producer* -Leeward islands-supplemental -Nevas -Trinaded and Tobago

Slave Sales in the Americas 1. Arrival in Americas

-*10.7 million* -*Caribbean and Brazil dominant* -Top 20 parts: -Caribbean and Brazil fuels the slave trade -more Africans in Americas than Europeans until the 1830s which led to a big imbalance in population -migration- *Africans predominate migration movements* -*1501-first transAtlantic slave trade is from Europe to Americas not from Africa to Americas, the route goes from Africa to Europe to the Americas* *-1525-then Africa to the Americas migration until 1866* -~30,000 a year as a average of slaves incoming -8 million out of 10 million arrive in 20 major ports -Rio -Salvador de Bahia -Kingston -Jamaica

Slavery in the Americas 5. Caribbean Resistance

-*Tacky's Revolt (1760-61)*- Jamaica -a rebellion involving 1500 slaves who took advantage of Britain being at war with France during the *Seven Years War*- the slaves strike back because planters are occupied by war -fails but largest rebellion in the British empire which rallies the whites in the Caribbean because they fear slave rebellions -the captive came from the *Gold Coast* which was an important binding element -*outright rebellion is uncommon and unsuccessful; instead slaves more commonly resisted slavery from day to day dragging of feet, not working as hard, array of resistance is not directly challenging system -Maroonage -*maroons are slaves that run away and stay away to not get captured* Jamaica- slaves hide in the mountains and manage to survive, the planters are furious because runaways are at the edge of mountains and their plantations- so they still interact with the plantations but can seek refuge in the forest and mountains

Slavery in the Americas Caribbean Wealth

-*more wealth in Caribbean that in North America* -grand living for planters which is different than most of America -*planters living very well with food, drink, and can import almost anything though sugar and slave money* -Atlantic connections -British planters come form Britain and buy land to become planters ex. Codrington, Barbados was owned by Society for Propogation of the Gospel which was an out reach of the Church of England owned their own plantation which shows that even churches in Britain do not have a problem with slavery and used the plantations to send sugar back to Britain the plantations are compensated by the British government for giving up slaves which shows how tied Britain is to their colonies -absenteeism -really hot and diseases arrive -*prefer to leave plantation with overseer remaining while planters go back to Britain*

Slavery in the Americas

-*slavery is a very large scale market and brutal- the vastness of slavery in the Americas is important because it shows the slave trade as an economic diver of the Americas and the Atlantic* -*slaves are fundamental to understanding the economy, politics, society, and cultural development* -slavery in Americas drove the slave trade -slavery in the Americas is different from in Africa -most African captives endure lifelong slavery in America, their children will inherit slavery and endure working in the field based on their race

The Middle Passage 4. Mortality

-*the average mortality rate was 12% but there was great variation* -voyages length and health status before embarkation was important -factors before getting onto a ship: -famine -outbreak of disease -factors on the ship: -slave rebellion was always handled brutally -suicide -shipwreck/natural disasters

Rebellion during the Middle Passage 1. How often?

-*there are about 500 documented cases of rebellion (of c. 40,000 voyages)* -rebellion was quite unlikely to occur -historians today do not have all cases documented of slave rebellion because there would have been pressure from financiers to keep them quite and insurance does not cover the cost of rebellion because insurancer's thought rebellion was preventable -Challenges of Evidence -self interested factors kept people from reporting rebellion -Why not more rebellion? -the *slave ships were able to effectively imprison the captives with little hope of rebellion* -*captives from many different nations who spoke completely different languages would not have been able to organize and complete a slave rebellion* -people were often very ill

Illegal Slaving Voyages, 1850-1866 1. Creating the "Final Triangle"

-1850-suppression of illegal slave trade to Brazil 1. Brazilian suppression -illegal since 1830 but 20 years later is when law is put into action -*the British get really fed up with Brazil and really does not care about Brazilian sovereignty, so they bring the British army to Brazil to forcefully stop the slave trade* -many planters scatter after ban was affected, Portuguese go back home and bring their wealth home- purchase large estates and place of power in Portugal 2. Final open market -people want to move final trade to Cuba, do not quit trading -many-12- end up in NY (lower Manhattan) because they were booted out of Cuba by Cuban Atlantic slave trades who do not want competition *Why NY? NY is a big port city, huge shipping market with American flag, and they can hide themselves within the multitude, NY is a great place to money launder* (facilities to transfer and hide money) ex. Maia Ferreira and Margaret Butler Maia- born in Angola, fights for Union in Civil War, poet, became Kingpin in NY Margaret-from wealthy family, and is very wealthy, she knew -the Atlantic slave scatter

The Intra-American Slave Trade What was they Intra-American Slave trade?

-3 separate legs with 3rd leg internally within Americas 1. internal Africa to the coast 2. coast to cross the Atlantic 3. first stop to place of master (internal trade) -could be within colony arrived -could be to another colony ex. from Caribbean to Charleston 1. *Demand from minor ports/ slaveholding regions* ex. NC- areas on the periphery because the trans-atlantic slave traders bring large numbers of captives and want to sell them all in one go, so NC market is not big enough to sell slaves quickly (traffic from the Caribbean to NC or NY) 2. *Demand from regions not supplied by their empire (ex. Spanish Americas)* -demand not met by supply -Spanish mainland are not getting enough slaves from Spanish ships so get them from other countries -Role of niche intercolonial slave traders (speculators) -making bets on turning profits on slaves they select to sell to people not in the market but that want slaves, they make a gamble for the profit -*lot of trading later 1700s* (slave trade always slumps during war ex. American Revolutions and Sever Years War -an important supple to undersupplied region like the Spanish and North American colonies -captives as funneling and fanning -*captives were funneled from the interior of Africa to a slave ship, across the Atlantic, and fanned out again through internal American slave trade- really brutal lottery of where the Africans will end up because this decisions was out of their control entirely* -most famous slave ship rebellions occurred in the intra-American trades

Slave Sales in the Americas 2. Case Study: North America

-4% total arrivals in Americas -US had biggest slave population by the end of the trade -captives arrive in New Orleans, in Gulf, some in Florida, plenty in Low Country, in North (Virginia and Chesapeake), New York, New Jersey- many different ports of disembarkation in US -just under 50% arrive in Charleston- *big influx of slaves to Charleston just before ban in enacted in Charleston in 1808* -from NE to New Orleans -but Charleston 50% of total -late influx in early 1800s

Illegal Slaving Voyages, 1850-1866 6. Collapse

-British consulate- *Edward Archibald*- runs counter surveillance *Emilio Sanchez-from Cuba and merchant/ trader, is spy for Archibald, not slave trading Sanchez is hired and spends 3 years collecting information for Britain on illegal slave trade, he describes the vessels, the journeys, where on the African coast and he knows ship captains, sailors, and converses with them to gain info to send to the British consulate which gives the information to London which sends it to the British Navy who intercepts ships -caused the interception of ~16000 captives and is payed based on the number of ships that are intercepted- the British jipped him of his money -US politics and the slave trade -the Civil War- big issue- will slavery expand as the nation expands -Lincoln- I will not touch slavery where it already exists but slavery will not move to new territory and is disgruntled by ships like Clotilde -*Southerners claim Northerners are huge hypocrites because of NY involvement* -Lincoln's inauguration in 1861 does not let slavery expand 1. (1862) signs treaty with Britain which is the Lyon-Seward Treaty 2. appoints federal Marshall in NY, serious about suppression 3. (1861) trial of slave ship captain- tried for piracy, convicted but not hung -the US dropping out kills the slave trade because of the Civil War, no ships, emancipation -captives leaves traces -Cuban captives only got freedom in 1880s (most captives illegal slave trading) -Cuba tries to keep slavery going after US drops out but really goes downhill

Abolition 4. New Morals

-In "The West" new ideas question the slave trade -the *Enlightenment* (1700s): natural rights -natural rights fuels abolitionist thought because things like liberty are supposed to be for all mankind -*Protestant sects*: equality of all men before God -in Britain and North America the Quakers oppose slavery -God is viewing all men as equal and they see it as unGodly to send people on slaving voyages -yet a struggle, mass support sometimes based on other factors, especially port cities and plantation owners are against abolition

Abolition 5. Abolition strategy

-In Britain there is a mass movement against slavery -*Propoganda campaign* -*depiction of the slave trade as cruel in depictions of women's virtue being stolen and the slave trade making beasts of white people* -these were good propaganda techniques because they showed an otherwise good sailor becoming corrupt by the slave trade ex. Brookes depiction of slave ship- most famous sketch of tight packing- effective image -slaves are viewed as not harmful-asking for independence and not demanding it -*non-consumption movement for slave produced sugar* -*petitions* aim to get everyday people involved in the fight -speaking tours

Slavery in the Americas 1. Regions

-North America 1. *Rice and Cotton*- Southern US -rice was grown earlier -cotton was grown after 1800 -Canada-New France -Eastern sea board -New Spain-Mexico -Caribbean -sugar was major crop -cotton, coffee (Jamaica and Brazil), mining were minor *-crops were addictive and stimulants that slave must product* -through South America- in Brazil to Argentina and Uruguay -*mining gold and silver* in Central Americans and South America (the Spanish in Bolivia brings in great profit) -the slave trade was found in almost every part of the Americas supplied by the trans-Atlantic slave trade -*the Americas could be split by crop*-because crop determines the slaves work life, which ultimately determines a slave's life *-the crop dictates the life of a slave more than the empire that the person is enslaved in because the production of a crop is the same method no matter what. empire*

Rebellion during the Middle Passage 2. Patterns Coastal Origins

-Prominence of Upper Guinea (12% of captives leaving Africa accounts for 40% of slave revolts) -West Central Africa is almost the reverse -Senegambia (1 in 4 off all slave rebellions), Sierra Leone, Winward Coast -(hypothesis) A lot of internal conflict and warfare in the Upper Guinea which potentially meant more soldiers and warriors had been captured and transported on ships, so these warriors were more likely to revolt -*A vast majority of rebellion occurred on or near the African coast* -the amount of time spent on the African coast was substantial because of the bartering and trading system so this is why uprisings would have occurred most here -it is not specifically on the African coast, just wherever the captives spent the most time

Slave Sales in the Americas 2. The Slaver Arrives

-Quarantine (Sullivan's Island before Charleston) -have to spend time in quarantine in order for city to give license to ship to enter -Advertisements -will advertise in the paper for slave buyers to come to the ship to look at membership -capitalization, bigger font, images are all used to get attention in newspapers -small pox is enlarged because if the slaves have already been exposed then they have become immunized so they will not become sick again -advertise where they are from if from a good place and also falsely advertise their location ex. Rice Coast slaves were sough after by planters because they know how to grow rice -also, stereotypes depending on Africans region -Prep for sale -preparation for sales on voyage/quarantine -last week or 2 on slave voyage the slaves are given more food -Influx of planters -planters come to town-busy -When captives arrived in Charleston, the planters buying power made a big demographic change -Uptick in business -Doctors -Barbers -Planters -Taverns -local farmers supplied food for captives -the influx of slaves brings the city to life when all theses ships arrive -also have the deaths of those slaves who are diseased *seasonality is really important because planters want slaves in the spring and summer because this is harvest/maintaining/planting*- the market is hot -Role of factors -*Agents, specialist slave dealers, would purchase captives and the resell them to planters living out of town so these specialists played a huge role for those unable to come to the port city in which the slaves were landing*

Slave Sales in the Americas 3. Slave Sales

-Scramble- Charleston -the scramble occurred in Charleston and was a method by which slaves could be bought -*captives were grouped together based on specific physical characteristics and allotted certain prices by slave sellers* -*this took place on land*, the time and day are set in advance so the prospective buyers are made aware -*the doors fling open to signify the beginning of the sale, the prospective buyers can grab any captive the deem acceptable and pay the price for them* -the sellers use the scramble so that buyers will be more likely to pay higher pries in the chaotic atmosphere by "claiming people" -Auction -during auctions individual people were put up for auction and prospective buyers bid on the human beings -*this happens on board the ship* *quarantines does not always happen, depends on the port* -Prices -prices are higher -prime male slaves are valued most because they can go directly into the field, they are thought of as stronger, etc. -*gender misconceptions- men are higher priced and valued than women* -*females of child-bearing age are the prime for females -children were next profitable and older captives were least expensive -Paying for slaves -*slaves were predominantly paid for by products slave plantations produced* -*planters do not have a lot of money on hand, they are "cash poor", so planters promise to pay back debts with the crops form the harvest that the sold slaves will produce*-the relationships between agents and planters are built on trust *this moment, the commodification of human begins, is an important process going to market ex. market, advertisements, bodies of the captives are prepared for buyers, how slaves are paid for by marketable goods 1730s-slave rebellions in Charleston *Stono River- slaves rise up and attempt to march to Spanish Florida, but the militia break up the rebellion and slaves are executed, after this rebellion, Charleston shuts down because white people are panicked until it is picked up once again*

The Illegal Slave Trade in the 1800s 1. Weakness of Abolition

-abolitionist sentiment remains weak in many slave trading nations -ex. Portugal, Brazil -countries for abolishment ex. Denmark, Britain -*300 years of slave trading and within 30 years the biggest countries abolish the slave trade ( or say they do) *internal- Britain and US* *international treaties*-Spanish, Portugal, Brazil* Weakness 1. abolition sentiment is weak -Brazil get their independence from Portugal in the mid 1820s and were cajoled into suppressing the slave trade by Britain but they do not want to -*Portugal has Angola (biggest slave trade in Africa) and the wealthy colony of Brazil until the 1820s*- *Portugal has become increasingly dependent on Brazil and Brazil is dependent on slavery, so there is no attraction to embracing abolitionism* 2. slavery and the slave trade is increasingly profitable ex. Spain -an era of tremendous demand for slave produced goods like sugar and coffee in Europe in particular- there is a growing demand for slave products, so there is more demand in the Americas for slaves to produce these goods which increases the prices of slaves (because of demand) ex. 1800- $600 mid-1800s- $1000 -there is a tremendous economic advantage because it is incredibly profitable- *profit rates of 100% in the mid-1800s* which has to be taken into consideration, but in the end the rewards outweigh the risks -there were laws as punishment ex. America passed piracy acts which made an impact in the 1860s -but slave traders continue to trade despite the risks ex. Cuba was a Spanish colony -Britain was the 2nd largest slave trading nation until they had a "road to Damascus" moment out of which they have been trying to tell everyone else what to do-hypocritical -*other countries viewed the British abolishment as completely hypocritical and self-interested because of the competition with slaving countries* -claim Britain had a competitive advantage and wanted to keep it, so they were making other countries abolish the slave trade -Spanish are increasingly resentful of Britain trying to abolish slavery -concerns about sovereignty ex. US- for the US the context of getting independence from Britain in the 1700s and fighting the War of 1812 showed conflict was prevalent between the US and Britain especially over ships- *the US denies Britain any right to police American vessels* -slave traders -*Britain is able to convince other powers to allow Britain to police their ships because these nations are not strong enough to resist the search* -*the US is a more powerful nation and Britain is not able to persuade the US into letting them search ships -Abraham Lincoln sings treaty with Britain in the Civil War that allows them to search

The Illegal Slave Trade in the 1800s 6. Conclusion

-banning the slave trade aids in its decline, but does not stop it -*when what mattered was popular opinion and government action*

Charleston

-center of commerce for slaveholders and slave traders -"gateway to the most expansive plantation economy on the continent" -captives spend at least two weeks in Charleston which was an initiation period to the American slave system- it usually only took this amount of time or less for slaves to go through Charleston -most people arrived from mid 18th century to early 19th century 1. 10 days of quarantine on Sullivan's Island 2. for trading purposed slaves going to be sold were given more food which was used to help restore the appearance of the captives and the appearance of vitality -Charleston was a bustling harbor with markers of wealth and gentility -Charleston's resident population was evenly split between people of African and European descent -*Charleston was the wealthiest town in British North America, however the wealth was concentrated in the hands of the elites* -*Scrambles* occurred in Charleston in which slaves were grouped based on perceived values and attributes, each category was assigned a price

Illegal Slaving Voyages, 1850-1866 4. Middle Passages

-dispersal- men and women separately kept- normal -different: kept below for first week of voyage while near the coast -less spaces (around 5ft square)- tighter packing which is a consequence of the need for high profit rates because more slaves equate more money -relief from tight packing comes from death of others or disembarking -mortality growing (16.5%) -fewer African provisions but the voyage is quicker because shipping technology has improved -fewer provisions from NY on these trips because do not have time to trade and get provisions -goods come on separate ships from Europe -*2 ships are needed for trading, the first ship brings goods and bartering while buying Africans to keep on coast until the second ship comes* -from 1851-1866 most of the traffic is going to Cuba with major involvement in trade by Kingpins on NY

The Intra-American Slave Trade 1. National Carriers and Pathways

-ex. upper South wanted to expand lower South -over million shipped in North America to other places in NA -Spanish as well

Slavery in the Americas Caribbean: Sugar cultivation

-factory in a field -brutal -6 days a week the slaves were up at 4:00 AM, eat meal, into work at 6:00 AM, brief break for lunch, work until sundown -sugar harvesting season included 16 hour days because the sugar has to be processed quickly -the plantation processed sugar as well as grew it- this was a dangerous process - labor was done in gangs 1. composed of adult males who did the heaviest work and cut down the tress 2. women, who were viewed as not as tough as the first group and youths 3. young, old, infirm had the lightest work *intense, long, set hours of cutting and processing -death -people died quickly -1/3 of captives from Africa die within a year -life expectancy for newly arrived captives is 3 years -punishments are brutal -women are subjected to sexual violence regularly -forming communities is difficult for enslaved people because of death rates -population of Jamaica- with a 95% slave population whites are concerned with rebellion and therefore are very brutal in punishments to keep down rebellion

The Intra-American Slave Trade 2. Change over time

-increase in intra-American slave trade in 1800s, in correlation to the trans-Atlantic slave trade 456,00 embarked 430,000 disembark -*much smaller number of trans-Atlantic >10% -over 11, 000 voyages -fewer slaves per ship compared to trans-Atlantic -4.7% mortality rate in intra-American as compared to the 12.8% of the trans-Atlantic slave trade because of a much lower mortality rate because less packing, the length of the passage is much shorter -*during the intra-American slave trade the ships were smaller, the number of captives were fewer, the passage was shorter, and the mortality rate was less*

The Intra-American Slave Trade 3. Case Study: The British Intra-American Slave trade

-more than 300,000 captives moving out from British Caribbean -200,000 of those captives departed from British empire entirely -*often Spanish Americas purchased these slaves because they were willing to pay higher prices and able to pay in gold and silver* -Most of the remainder to British North America -*50,000 go from one British Caribbean island to other* -to NC and SC

Illegal Slaving Voyages, 1850-1866 5. Destinations

-most captives bound for 1 destination- Cuba -after 1850- the illegal slave trade- 69.9% of captives were enslaved in Cuba -intercepted captives -*by British navy- 1/2 West Indies and Sierra Leone* -US navy- Liberia -Spain-remain in Cuba as emancipados -Brazil- apprentice in Brazil -Portuguese- became apprentices in Angola *many die on voyage* -for intercepted captives there were a variety of outcomes

Abolition 3. A variety of causes

-must look at abolition across many different nations who abolish for many different reasons A. Slave Resistance -slaves aboard vessels- *slave fought the slave trade form the very beginning* -*Saint Domingue/ Haiti*-(1791-1804)- *the ONLY successful slave rebellion in the Western world that has ever taken place on a large scale* -was a French colony and the crown jewel of the French empire -colony, society, politics, all based on slave trade -the population was 450,000 slaves to 40,000 whites (*less than 10%) which was expected in a slave society because these islands were geared towards slavery, coffee (40% of world's coffee), and sugar -*French Revolution*- white colonists begin to agitate for *more political rights* for colony itself which *opens the lid for slaves*- the slaves believe the French Revolution will declare slavery illegal, so they rise up to create a Civil War which was extremely bloody - they declare independence, and form a black republic in the Americas - America *cuts off diplomatic relations* because this is their worst nightmare, slave revolt -slaves gain freedom and the slave trade is cut off which is a major blow against the slave trade -*European trade that went to Saint Domingue is redirected towards Cuba and this rerouting of the slave trade becomes a motor for very powerful society developing in Cuba* *slaves behind abolition*

The Illegal Slave Trade in the 1800s 3. Consequences

-slave trade remains very large- just because abolition is enacted does not mean illegal slave rate stops *illegal-1.6 million people (10-15% of entire slave trade is illegal)* -slave traders import huge numbers right before slave trade becomes illegal -*traffic largely based South of the equator, often aboard US vessels* -very few slave ships going to Caribbean -increasing proportion coming from SE Africa and number of slaves still coming from Angola and going to Brazil -*dominance of West Central Africa* -number of slaves going to Cuba -*very few captives going to US after 1808, going to US is a very rare occurrence but massive US involvement in that traders are using US vessels to transport slaves-.5 million are transported by US ships because Britain cannot touch American vessels and Americans do not care much about suppressing the salve trade* -US citizen buys ship, then vessel can fly US flag-other countries pay off US citizens to buy title so vessel an fly flag -slave trades adapt: flags, bribes (huge expense, when ship is beginning their voyage and on return home where captives get off), disguising ships, writing in code -disguising ships- not super obvious that ship is slave ship, bit will be fashioned into slave ship on the way to the African Coast and lie about where the ship Is going -writing in code-"bales or packages" are terms used to describe slaves because they are trying to escape legal trouble -suppression efforts struggle -Britain intercepts 4 out of every 5 intercepted, but ultimately ineffective -it is up to Britain to stop slave ships and the British get more aggressive over time, sometimes take US ship which creates huge diplomatic problems because of the principle of sovereignty

Abolition 1. Abolition timeline

-the world had been okay with slave trading for thousands of years but became severely curtailed by laws in the early 1800s -Extraordinarily fast -Denmark (1792, effective 1803) -Britain (1807) -US (1808, but earlier in some states)- commitment to abolish in the constitution and becomes a compromise between the North and South -up to 1808 there were masses of slaves brought to North America before abolishment -Spain (1820) -France (1826) -Brazil (1830) -Portugal (1836) *-abolition by legislative means and treaties* 1. *legislative*- ex. George III stamped the bill passed abolishing slavery by Parliament- within the country 2. *treaties*- international treaties were signed by Britain and other other countries to abolish the slave trade it was an agreement *ex. Congress of Vienna in 1815 forced nations to sign abolition agreements in text but were not upheld in practice because there was not home support for abolishment of the slave trade because slavery was so deeply embedded into the country* -*Britain drove international treaties with other countries -African polities were involved in slave trade-these polities signed treaties with Britain on paper but did not really outlaw in practice -banning the slave trade by any measure was an extraordinary development -*Britain and Haiti very important cases that led to international ban in a short period of time*

The Illegal Slave Trade in the 1800s 2. Dodging enforcement

-turning a blind eye -ex. Governor O-Donnel of Cuba (governor in 1840s) was strong armed by Britain into abolition -Spain signed many antislavery treaties within Britain (1820, 1835) and gave many excuses to why they are not able to stop the slave trade in Cuba, *says it is not possible to stop this trade, accept bribes, and complain there is nothing to do to stop the slave trade but benefit from the bribes* by allowing the slave trade to persist- O'Donnell is supposed to be suppressing the slave trade -resisting British diplomatic pressure ex. US -bribes cost more than purchase of slaves -Cuban governors and officials know they can arrest ships and can get a profit -US never signs treaty with Britain until the Civil War (Lyons-Seward Treaty in 1862) -resist British pressure -French are are resisting pressure to sign treaty with Britain -Brazil, Portugal, and Spain are all turning a blind eye to the treaties

Illegal Slaving Voyages, 1850-1866 3. captives

1. *Embarkation zone narrowing because of suppression* -*West central Africa: 70%* -large number (average= 603), there were many more people on slave ships -*many more children (c. 50%)* because they were easier to transport when the ships cannot have shackles because no shackles = no confiscation -will not take adult males because they do not the shackles and do not want to be overrun (planters still want adult males, but have to take children) 2. *Lengthy wait on the coast-spend longer in coast before slave ship comes because of suppression by British ships- the disease environment gets worse in coastal prisons and captives are forced abroad really quickly which is much different than most voyages on African coast in 1700s*

The Intra-American Slave Trade 4. The American Experience

1. Arrival in the Americas -slave ships arriving in the port were assessed by local slave dealers who assessed if they could turn a profit on the slaves -they were selected and taken off the ship 2.Splitting -captives were parted form families, kinship groups, people share language with, people they have experienced trauma with in the Trans-Atlantic voyage 3. Swifter transfer -do not spend much time in place of first disembarkment 3. Different onboard environment? The mortality rate was less and the ships were smaller -*often these ships were traveling with goods to take them to and from other places, constantly in trade buying and selling at the same time* -North Americans send food (Virginia) and captives abroad in Jamaica to go back as well as sugar, molasses, and rum -the ships go through multiple jurisdictions, cultures, and languages in America from French, Spanish, British, Dutch, etc.

The Middle Passage 3. Length of the Voyage

1. Average length -the *average length of a slaving voyage was 60 days* but there was great variation -slaves are spending a lot of time on ships before they leave the African coast since slaves are usually obtained through small numbers along the African coast 2. Voyages quicken overtime -shipping technology helped to decrease the length of the voyage

Rebellion during the Middle Passage 3. Rebellion in action

1. Conditions favorable for revolt -if crew numbers are down due to death slaves would be more likely to attempt rebellion -*any crisis or chaos for example bad weather* -*about 40% of uprisings occurred in the dead of night* 2. Ingredients for success -the slaves had to have good communication under the deck as well as secrecy because the more people who know about the revolt, the increased numbers who help revolt, but also more people likely to be an informant -it was necessary for the captives to possess weapons which would help overpower the crew -the captives needed the element of surprise and organization so that the captives could all rise at once and the revolt could occur quickly, which would increase the chances of its success 3.Role of women -*women had an important role in slave rebellions because women were not as policed as men were, had more movement on deck, and had more opportunity to get any kind of weapon than men did* *there are very few successful slave rebellions, but the successful ones occurred close to the coast, and the slaves killed the crew and got the ship back to shore* -sometimes too chaotic during revolt and the captain or officer who could help them navigate back to shore would have been lost, in this case the Africans would be at a loss because Africans cannot navigate 4.Example of success: Clare, 1792 and the "Ghost Ship"-1785 -The Ghost Ship turned up in the Atlantic with no crew and 15 Africans that were emaciated because the rebellion had wiped out the crew and the captives were unable to navigate the ship

The Middle Passage 2. Captives

1. Male/Female ratio -the *male to female ratio was approximately 65% to 45%*, roughly a 2:1 ratio, but this varies over time 2. Adult/children ratio -the *adult to children ratio was 78% to 12%* or approximately at 4:1 ratio 3. variations over time and region -the majority of of captives were male over females except for in the Bight of Biafra at various times, the exceptions occurred when African societies when males had the occupation of field work and wanted to retain men to do the work, so they are more prepared to sell women *usually it is women who do the field work so men are more likely to be sent as captives* -adults were considered around the age 14-15 -there are pregnant women giving birth -do not see people over the age of 50 as captives -*over time there is an increasingly high proportion of children in the slave trade, it is unclear why the slave trade began to seek out more children but theories include that they could have been easier to control during the illegal slave trade when less protection was available -*the demands of the planters was for adult males who could work straight away, the planters wanted an immediate return on profit* -influences on the make up of slave ships include the slaves themselves, the transporters and slave traders, and the demands of planters

The Middle Passage 1. Ships

1. Many kinds of vessels used as slave ships ~150 tons outfitted/modified for slave ships by carpenter when ship is at sea 2. Modifications for the slave trade -barricado and mounted guns -barricados were roughly 9ft barricade to separate the ship on the main deck and the command center was located behind -a wooden partition was used for defense/ security with spikes mounted on top along with mounted guns on top pointed down onto the main deck -chain along the main deck -2 chains are used to shackle slaves to the deck when they are brought up -cooking apparatus -the cooking apparatus contained boilers for beans, rice, etc. -lower slave deck: "rooms"; platforms -men and women were always separated by a wall that was supposed to be sound proof and platforms were used for the slaves 3. Descriptions: "floating tombs" (tombeiros) -there was netting surrounding the ship to stop suicide from occurring -slave voyage- ships * most people were not questioning the morality of the slave trade, it was all about the bottom line, if slaves are alive then they can be traded examples: -Brookes- 1780s- showcased how inhumane the slaved trade actually was, however the depiction was not brutal enough the truly depict the brutality of the slave trade -Marie Seraphique- a depiction of the barricado on a slave ship and the sale of slaves occurring -the packaging gets tighter which increases the number of slaves aboard and thus profits increase

Rebellion during the Middle Passage 4. Effects

1. Short term effects: -almost all rebellions fail -some captives are executed 1. wipe crew 2. wipe Africans out 3. crew gets things back under control but a blood bath ensues afterwards because the crew does not want to execute everyone but they do want to make an example of rebellious slaves 2. Long term effects: -make difference -architecture of a ship -barricados -chains -*because of the fear of rebellion the defensive features were put in place because slaves rebel-rerouting of voyages* -few slave traders go to Upper Guinea because they know these captives are more likely to revolt, so they shift their focus on the African coast -reduces the overall size of slave trade- 9% -*raises the cost because more crew and security has to be hired, the defensive features have to be put in place, rerouting the voyages takes a longer time and includes more provisions, more crew, and insurance goes up* -abolitionist movement -later 1700s -*inhumanity of slave trade and humanity of the slave was the argument supporting abolition because why would slaves revolt if they were not human*

Abolition 2. Caused by economic factors?

1. an old argument suggested economic factors (declined thesis) -but now rejected -Britain abolitionism had come from economic opportunities and British colonies and *plantations not profitable because the soil had been exhausted so the slave trade was not profitable anymore, which led attention to the Industrial Revolution* -this *theory is now rejected because plantations were still profitable and historians now view this as econocide because of the decrease of the slave trade cost a lot more money/ economy*

The Middle Passage 5. Brutality

1. conditions under deck -tremendously cramped with people living in spoon formation -captives were sick and dying from the terrible living conditions -people moaning and going crazy -lot of excrement, blood, and vomit -under the deck was brutally hot and dark -the rocking of the ocean could have been nauseating and unfamiliar -many different languages 2.Violence -crew had many weapons at their disposal to combat revolution -sexual violence did occur 2. Death -many captives died from gastrointestinal diseases and fevers as well as other causes like suicide and revolt -*half of the people who died during these voyages died from dysentery or the fluxes* -20% of death were related to small pox or yellow fever

Illegal Slaving Voyages, 1850-1866 2. Voyage Protection

1. importance of US flag 2. Vessels larger and faster- want to increase revenue and outrun the British 3. recruitment- Kingpins recruit carefully other Portuguese and Brazilians with an American captain who "purchases" the ship -cosmopolitan crews -crew are multilingual and multinational crews who are going to Africa

Slavery in the Americas 2. Caribbean: Big Picture

1. replication -*Portugal brings slaves in early 1500s from Africa and the Iberian Peninsula to Brazil, by the end of the 1500s they are producing sugar in North Brazil* -*by the early 1600s other empires replicate the sugar-slave method that the Portuguese have developed in Brazil and introduce sugar cane, sugar harvesting techniques, and slaves* -set up sugar economy in islands as the initial replication of Portugal but then replication within Caribbean to other islands 2. competition -Saint Domingue, Jamaica, and Cuba were all sugar producers -isalnds are competing with one another as they belong to other empires-*empirical competition* -Empires- these nations are warring with each other in Europe and spill into the Americans and Caribbean islands who get caught up in wars and end up changing hands ex. Jamaica was Spanish but becomes British 3. empires