Paper 3 (slavery)

Quakers and other early abolitionists

English dissenters who broke from Church of England, preache a doctrine of pacificism, inner divinity, and social equity, under William Penn they founded Pennsylvania er. The abolitionists were successful in their attempts to gain awareness. They gained many supporters and swayed many people's points of view about slavery using propaganda. The abolitionists attempts to abolish slavery, however, was not as successful. They did not pass legislation within our time period. Also, when legislation is eventually passed, it is really only enforced in Britain proper and not necessarily in the Sugar colonies.

Middle Passage

A voyage that brought enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to North America and the West Indies The transport of black Africans to the Americas by slave ship became known as the Middle Passage because it was the middle leg of the Triangular Trade route used by the European merchants. The African slaves were viewed as cargo by the merchants and were packed into the ships with no regard to their basic human rights. Slave ships could be either 'tight pack' or 'loose pack'. A 'tight pack' could hold many more slaves than the 'loose pack' because the amount of space allocated to each slave was considerably less, but more slaves would die on route to the Americas. Other slaves were forced to spend the voyage sitting on deck. Many slaves became seasick or developed diarrhoea. Unable to move because they were chained into their positions, the slave's deck became a stinking mass of human waste. Slaves who had developed sores where their chains had rubbed their skin, had festering wounds often with maggots eating away their flesh.Conditions on the slave ships were so bad that many slaves decided they would prefer to die and tried to starve themselves by refusing to eat or by jumping overboard.

Social structures on plantations in southern colonies of British America

Africans sold as slaves in the Americas had to rely on their owners providing them with housing or building materials, pots and pans for cooking and eating, food and clothing. Many slaves did the best they could with what they were given. Most did not dare complain for fear of receiving a whipping or worse punishment. Slaves were allocated an area of the plantation for their living quarters. On some plantations the owners would provide the slaves with housing, on others the slaves had to build their own homes. Slaves that had to build their own houses tended to make them like the houses they had had in Africa and they all had thatched roofs. Living conditions were cramped with sometimes as many as ten people sharing a hut. They had little in the way of furniture and their beds usually made of straw or old rags. Slaves who worked in the plantation house generally had slightly better housing nearer to the house and were given better food and clothing than those slaves that worked in the fields. Sometimes they were given pots and pans for cooking, but more often they had to make their own. The long hours they had to work in the fields meant that they had little free time for making things to improve their living conditions. Some slaves used a hollowed out pumpkin shell called a calabash, to cook their food in. Most plantation owners did not spend more money on food for their slaves than they had to and so the slaves lived on a diet of fatty meat and cornbread. Slaves would be given one pair of shoes and three items of underwear a year. Although these and other clothing would be provided by their owner, they were often ill-fitting and made of coarse material. Most slaves had to work from sunrise to sunset. Some owners made their slaves work every day, others allowed slaves one day a month off and some allowed their slaves to have Sundays as a rest-day. Slaves would spend their free time mending their huts, making pots and pans and relaxing. Some plantation owners allowed their slaves a small plot of land to grow things to supplement their diet. Slaves were not allowed to read or write, but some were allowed to go to church.

Social structures on plantations in Brazil

In Brazil, the slaves would have to work for about a year for the plantation owner, and the majority would die within a year of being enslaved because of the horrible conditions and environment they would work for. They don't get the right supplies and tools needed for their work because slave owners fear that they would attack them. The slaves were also given the opportunity to work in the mines, to get better treatment. The New England slaves would have to work their whole lives while in Brazil they would work for the year. The west indies they would take care of their slaves so that they could have a longer life span. The death rate in Brazil were higher than in the west indies because of the labor and conditions they would work in. Both were participants were that they would slaves for labor but both had different methods and perspectives towards them when it comes to labor.

Reasons for and origins of slavery

In the North American colonies, the importation of African slaves was directed mainly southward, where extensive tobacco, rice, and cotton plantation economies demanded extensive labor forces for cultivation; this created the Southern slave institution in the United States. Slavery was introduced in the Spanish colonies through the indigenous particular to mine for gold. Then the Spanish switched to African slaves as Africa already had the infrastructure for a mass slave trade and Africans had proved themselves to be more tolerant of diseases that the indigenous found fatal.

Role of the colonial powers in the establishment and expansion of slavery

Some of the roles of the colonial powers and governments in maintaining and protecting the system of slavery is by giving the society what it wants and what would please them. For instance, they would use the three-fifths compromise just so that the state could have more votes for their state. They would keep implementing several other laws and bills to prevent the slaves from gaining freedom in any way.

Slave Rebellions

Stono Rebellion: South Carolina slave revolt that prompted the colonies to pass stricter laws regulating the movement of slaves and the capture of runaways. Enslaved Africans resisted, or rebelled, against their position as slaves in many different ways. Each expression of resistance by enslaved individuals or groups counted as acts of rebellion against the system of slavery. The many instances of resistance show that slaves were not victims of slavery who accepted their situation. Instead they proved their strength and determination in fighting for their freedom. Uprising, or rebellion, was the most dramatic and bloody way that slaves could resist their enslavement. Less obvious methods of resistance occurred on the plantations. For example, slaves could steal from their owner, robbing him of his property and profit. They could damage machinery, so that it was put out of action and needed either lengthy repairs or costly replacement. The slaves could avoid work, by working as slowly as they dared, or by pretending to be sick. All these acts of resistance carried the threat of punishment if they were found out. Many enslaved African women had knowledge of medicines made from plants and could use their skills against owners. Plantation owners were therefore anxious that the female slaves who cooked their food might poison them. Akwamu Rebellion: Members: African Royal (King June and Prince Akashi) were the emperors of Rebellion who were fighting against their captives in St. John Island. Why they rebel: The reason why they are rebelling is because they wanted to overthrow their masters and to rebuild their kingdom in the Caribbean. Targets: Their main targets are the plantation owners and other white civilians. Where: It took place in St. John's Island in the Caribbean in 1733. They were able to use stealth to get away from their masters or sneak away from the plantations/sneak their weapons for their attack/ and were able to communicate with their members using drums. If there were any of their race that was not part of the movement they would make the other african or other members as their slaves if they chose to not join the movement because they believe they were betraying their own kind. The consequences are that the whites and the other authorities were warning the slaves that their limbs would be cut off, whipped 100 times, or burned to death in the public if they ever rebel or kill their owners or any white civilians. There have been other slaves that would warn their own masters of the rebels and to help them escape as an of loyalty. At the very end, they were captured by the French Militia and the Negro Code (africans considered free if they serve in return for land) and were either burned in public, had their limbs cut off, or shoot themselves to die in their own homeland.

Asiento System

System that took slaves to the New World to work for the Spanish. Required that a tax be paid to the Spanish ruler for each slave brought over.

Economic impact of slavery

The economy of the Southern colonies was based on agriculture and the production of profitable exports such as cotton, tobacco, indigo, and sugar cane. Slaves were brought from Africa as a source of essentially free labor and worked on farms and plantations. The more they extracted these cash crops and other resources, the more money they were able to gain from it because there were high demands with high prices that were placed on these crops.

Social impact of slavery

The social impact was that there was several awareness of the harsh cruelty and treatment towards the african slaves. Some would demand their freedom and would finally see them as human beings than just property. Social status attached to race (Remember Haiti and South American social structures) Education is non-existent among slave classes Very little social mobility if any depending on colonizing power.

Social structures on plantations in West Indies

There was a strict social order on the plantations. The white owner or his white manager was at the top of the social structure. Below him were other white employees, such as overseers and bookkeepers. Amongst the black slaves, skilled craftsmen such as carpenters or sugar boilers ranked above ordinary field slaves. At the head of the field slaves were men and women known as drivers, who were supposed to keep the field slaves hard at work, by use of the whip if necessary. Those slaves chosen to work in the house were considered to be of higher status than the field slaves. It could be a terrible punishment for a house servant to be put with a field gang to do heavy field work after the lighter duties in the house. There was also an order based on colour. The blackest slaves usually had the hardest work. The lighter-skinned slaves, often the children of the owner or manager by a slave woman, were often given the better jobs, kept as house servants or trained in a skilled job.

Slave Resistance

When an owner's slaves rebel against the owner, in the form of running away, boycotting work, etc Enslaved Africans resisted, or rebelled, against their position as slaves in many different ways. Each expression of resistance by enslaved individuals or groups counted as acts of rebellion against the system of slavery. The many instances of resistance show that slaves were not victims of slavery who accepted their situation. Instead they proved their strength and determination in fighting for their freedom. Uprising, or rebellion, was the most dramatic and bloody way that slaves could resist their enslavement. Less obvious methods of resistance occurred on the plantations. For example, slaves could steal from their owner, robbing him of his property and profit. They could damage machinery, so that it was put out of action and needed either lengthy repairs or costly replacement. The slaves could avoid work, by working as slowly as they dared, or by pretending to be sick. All these acts of resistance carried the threat of punishment if they were found out. Many enslaved African women had knowledge of medicines made from plants and could use their skills against owners. Plantation owners were therefore anxious that the female slaves who cooked their food might poison them.

Opposition to slave trade and slavery

the abolition of the slave trade was a pragmatic decision made in the knowledge that Britain could probably afford to dispense with it. Yet there is little doubt that public opinion was behind the measure, or that many MPs were swayed by the moral arguments put forward by Wilberforce and his supporters. The death of William Pitt in 1806 also proved an important turning point. The new government, Lord Grenville's "Ministry of All the Talents," was known to be in favor of the measure. In 1806 it brought in a bill prohibiting the slave trade to conquered Dutch Guiana. Seizing this opportunity, Wilberforce began to attach the provisions of his own Foreign Slave Bill to the proposed legislation. The Foreign Slave Bill was passed into law in 1806, paving the way for the Abolition Act of 1807, which finally outlawed all British involvement in the Atlantic slave trade. As predicted, a year later the United States also officially abandoned the slave trade, in accordance with the constitutional ban agreed to in 1787.