Atlantic System and Slavery Concepts

Questions and Answers

What is the Atlantic System?

A system of taxation for international trade

A trading network that moved goods and cultures around the Pacific Basin

A method of communication used by early explorers

A network of trading links after 1500 that moved goods, wealth, people, and cultures around the Atlantic Basin (correct)

What are Chartered Companies?

Groups of private investors who paid an annual fee to France and England in exchange for a monopoly over trade to the West Indies colonies.

What was the purpose of the Dutch West India Company?

To conduct its merchants' trade in the Americas and Africa.

Define Plantocracy.

Rich men who owned most of the slaves and most of the land in the West Indian colonies, especially in the eighteenth century. Signup and view all the answers

What is a Driver in the context of slavery?

A privileged male slave whose job was to ensure that a slave gang did its work on a plantation. Signup and view all the answers

What does Seasoning refer to?

An often difficult period of adjustment to new climates, disease environments, and work routines experienced by newly arrived slaves in the Americas. Signup and view all the answers

What is Manumission?

A grant of legal freedom to an individual slave. Signup and view all the answers

Who is referred to as a Maroon?

A slave who ran away from his or her master, often part of a community of runaway slaves. Signup and view all the answers

What is Capitalism?

The economic system of large financial institutions that developed in early modern Europe, characterized by the trading system of commercial capitalism. Signup and view all the answers

Define Mercantilism.

European government policies designed to promote overseas trade and accumulate precious metals by requiring colonies to trade only with their motherland. Signup and view all the answers

What was the Royal African Company?

A trading company chartered by the English government in 1672 to conduct its merchants' trade on the Atlantic coast of Africa. Signup and view all the answers

What is the Atlantic Circuit?

The network of trade routes connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas that underlay the Atlantic system. Signup and view all the answers

What does Middle Passage refer to?

The part of the Atlantic Circuit involving the transportation of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas. Signup and view all the answers

Who were the Songhai?

A people, language, kingdom, and empire in western Sudan in West Africa. Signup and view all the answers

What is the Hausa?

An agricultural and trading people of central Sudan in West Africa. Signup and view all the answers

What was the kingdom of Bornu?

A powerful West African kingdom important in trans-Saharan trade and the spread of Islam. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Atlantic System

Network of trading links established after 1500, facilitating the movement of goods, wealth, people, and cultures around the Atlantic Basin.

Chartered Companies

Private investor groups paying an annual fee for monopolies on trade in West Indies colonies held by France and England.

Dutch West India Company

Trading company established by the Dutch government for conducting merchants' trade across the Americas and Africa.

Plantocracy

Wealthy landowners in West Indian colonies dominating the ownership of slaves and land, particularly prominent in the eighteenth century.

Driver

Privileged male slave responsible for overseeing slave gangs and ensuring productivity on plantations.

Seasoning

Challenging adjustment period for newly arrived slaves in the Americas, involving acclimatization to climate, diseases, and labor routines.

Manumission

Legal granting of freedom to an individual slave.

Maroon

Runaway slave, often part of a community of escaped slaves in the West Indies and South America.

Capitalism

Economic system characterized by large financial institutions such as banks and stock exchanges, evolving from commercial capitalism to industrial capitalism.

Mercantilism

Government policies in Europe aimed at promoting trade between colonies and their mother countries while accumulating precious metals, regulated by acts like the British Navigation Acts.

Royal African Company

English trading company chartered in 1672 to manage trade along the Atlantic coast of Africa.

Atlantic Circuit

Interconnected trade routes linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas, forming the basis of the Atlantic system.

Middle Passage

Segment of the Atlantic Circuit dedicated to transporting enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas.

Songhai

An influential kingdom and empire in West Africa, notable for its trans-Saharan trade; at its zenith in the sixteenth century, extending from the Atlantic to Hausa territories.

Hausa

Agricultural and trading people from central Sudan in West Africa, maintaining autonomy until their conquest by the Sokoto Caliphate in the early nineteenth century.

Bornu

Significant West African kingdom at the southern Sahara, pivotal in trans-Saharan trade and the spread of Islam, existing from the ninth to the nineteenth century.

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Explore important concepts related to the Atlantic System, including chartered companies, plantocracy, and the experiences of enslaved individuals. This quiz will test your knowledge on the historical context of trade, slavery, and social structures in the Americas and Africa during the 1500s and beyond.