Transatlantic Slave Trade

Transatlantic Slave Trade

• Encompassed the forced migration of millions of Africans between the 16th and 19th centuries.
• Enslaved people were transported across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas.
• Was a core component of the Triangular Trade.
• The Triangular Trade involved Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

Reasons for the Slave Trade

• European colonies in the Americas needed a large labor force for plantation farming
• Plantation farming focused on cash crops like sugar, tobacco, and cotton.
• The slave trade was highly profitable for European traders, merchants, and plantation owners.
• They exchanged goods for enslaved people.
• Racist ideologies and colonial legal systems were utilized to justify the enslavement of Africans.
• Africans were seen as "inferior" and suited for labor.

What was Traded, and Where?

• Europe traded these goods to Africa:
  • Guns
  • Textiles
  • Alcohol
  • Manufactured goods
  • Iron products
• European ships sailed to Africa to exchange goods for enslaved Africans.
• Africa was used to trade Enslaved Africans to the Americas on ships.
• Ships transported enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas under brutal conditions.
• These goods were traded from the Americas to Europe:
  • Sugar
  • Tobacco
  • Cotton
  • Coffee
  • Other raw materials produced on plantations using enslaved labor
• Raw materials from the Americas were shipped back to Europe, where they were processed and sold.

Experiences of Enslaved Peoples

Capture and the Middle Passage

• Many were violently captured during raids or wars.
• Captives were often separated from their families and communities.
• The enslaved were forced to march long distances to coastal ports.
• They endured physical exhaustion, abuse, and fear.

Conditions on Slave Ships

• Enslaved individuals were packed tightly in unsanitary conditions.
• They were often chained together.
• Disease outbreaks, physical punishment, starvation, and dehydration led to high death rates.

Psychological Trauma

• Constant fear and uncertainty about the future was common.
• Many witnessed the suffering and deaths of others.
• Some resisted through escape attempts or rebellions.

Arrival into the Americas and Auctions

• Upon arrival, people faced:
  • Shock
  • Fear
  • Confusion
• They were often separated from loved ones, leading to emotional distress.
• Many were physically weakened from the Middle Passage.
• Enslaved people were treated as property in Auctions.
• They were inspected for strength and productivity.
• Often sold separately from their families.

Psychological and Emotional Impact

• Trauma of separation and loss of identity.
• Ongoing fear of being sold again.
• Deep emotional scars and disconnection from their past lives.

Experiences on Plantations

• People worked long hours from sunrise to sunset six days a week.
• Workers received only a half-day on Sundays.
• Women worked as household servants
• Servitude roles included tasks like butter churning and child-rearing.
• After childbirth, women were expected to return to work within 3 to 5 weeks.
• Constant physical labor, lack of rest, and emotional strain from separation, punishment, and fear created an oppressive and exhausting life.

Convicts

Reasons for Convict Transportation

• British prisons and prison ships (hulks) were overcrowded due to rising crime rates and strict laws.
• Convicts provided cheap labor to build settlements, infrastructure, and work on farms in places like Australia.
• Authorities saw transportation as a way to remove criminals while also expanding British territory.

Summary for George Youngson

• Crime: Tried for burglary (value: 60 shillings) at Lancaster, Lancashire on March 1, 1787.
• Sentence: 7 years of transportation.
• Age: About 20 years old in May 1787.
• Ship: Departed England on the Prince of Wales.

Experiences in Australia

• Convicts endured long voyages and strict discipline.
• They were forced into hard labor on roads, farms, and public buildings.
• Some convicts earned a "ticket of leave," allowing partial freedom.
• Many convicts eventually became free settlers.
• Convicts could return to England after serving their sentence.
• Many convicts remained in Australia as free men.
• Penal colonies housed convicts; convicts worked under strict supervision.

Part B: OPVL Revision

Origin

• Consider the creator of the source.
• Note when and where the source was created.
• Determine whether the source is primary or secondary.
• Identify the type of source.

Purpose

• Ascertain the creator’s perspective.
• Determine the intended audience.
• Identify the narrator’s perspective.
• Discover what the author knows about.

Value

• Identify what the source reveals.
• Note the key features of the source.
• Evaluate whether the source helps in understanding something.
• Identify what you learned from the source.

Limitations

• Note what the source does not tell us.
• Determine whether the source omits information on purpose.
• Identify what the source wants us to believe.
• Consider whether the source could lead to misconceptions.

Example OPVL Analysis

• Analyze source type in Origin
• Analyze subject matter in Origin
• Analyze timeframe of production in Origin
• Analyze people involve in Origin
• Analyze reason for creation in Purpose
• Analyze intended audience in Purpose
• Analyze goal in Purpose
• Analyze supporting evidence in Value
• Analyze key information in Value
• Analyze topic in Value
• Analyze problem in Limitations
• Analyze issue in Limitations
• Analyze bias and gaps in Limitations