Slavery & the Middle Passage

1. Slavery & the Middle Passage

3. Today’s Objectives • Describe the Triangle Trade and what was traded. • Explain what is meant by the “middle passage.” • Describe the evolution of the African Slave Trade and its consequences.

4. The Triangle Trade Trade route with three legs.

5. Leg 1 • Guns, cloth, iron, and beer are taken from Europe to Africa.

6. Leg 2 – The Middle Passage Voyage from West Africa across the Atlantic to the New World to be used as slaves in the plantation system.

7. Leg 3 Sugar is taken to Europe to be made into rum. Other raw materials, lumber, whale oil, etc – are taken to be used in Europe.

8. Triangular Trade linked: • Europe • Africa • Americas

10. The “Middle Passage” “I’m in the belly of the beast, the bottom of the boat,And home is a place I'll never get to go.”

11. Coffin Position Below Deck

12. Slave Ships

13. The Middle Passage • Capture – We will read together. Answer the questions on a separate page. • The Middle Passage –We’ll look, listen and discuss. Then answer the questions on your separate page. • Equiano & the Middle Passage • As you watch and listen, take notes on the things that Equiano experiences: the sights, sounds, smells, feelings, questions on the voyage.

14. Good Weather • Allowed to roam on deck • Fed two small meals: • Boiled rice, millet, or cornmeal and a daily ration of a half-pint of water in a “pannikin” • Horse beans, the cheapest food available

15. Exercise • Had to be in acceptable physical condition to maximize profit • “Dancing”: Men were forced to jump up and down to the beat of a drum until their ankles bled from their chains • Crew members whipped slaves who refused to dance "At the savage Captain’s beck, Now like brutes they make us prance Smack the cat about the Deck And in scorn they bid us dance"

16. Bad Weather • The worst time of the Middle Passage • Slaves remained below deck all day and night • These “tween decks” were filled with slaves (live and dead), blood, vomit, urine, and human waste • Slaves not fed as usual- forced to scrounge for crumbs

17. “Bedwarming” • Crew member or captain took slave women from the tween decks at night • Physically and sexually abused • This practice demonstrated the figurative and literal rape of the African-American culture by the slave traders of the Middle Passage

18. Revolts and Punishments • Made weapons of chains and shackles to attempt to kill crew • Uprisings usually put down quickly by crew  Most Africans who attempted to revolt were killed in the process • Africans harmed themselves to threaten cargo (suicide, starvation)  Crew force fed slaves

19. One of the few successful slave mutinies • A group of Africans led by Congolese chief Cinque killed captain and most of crew on the Amistad • Long legal battle  Supreme Court ruled the Africans to be free

20. Death Toll • Extreme overcrowding, deplorable conditions caused many to die • Dysentery, smallpox, ophthalmia, malaria, yellow fever, scurvy • Gone mad  flogged or clubbed to death and thrown overboard • Sick  starved • Contagious  thrown overboard so as not to infect others • Suicide, death from revolting

21. The Evolution of African Slavery • Some Native Americans died from fighting the Europeans but the majoritydied of disease. • African slaves were better at fighting off diseases. • Old world • Immunities that built up over time • As colonies expanded, the demand for slaves grew. • “Cash Crops” (sugar and rice) = need for lots of labor • Fewer indentured servants were coming from England

22. A life in slavery… • Read the sections “Auction and Sale”, and “The Plantation and Punishment” and write your answers on your separate page.

23. Slavery in the Americas • African slaves were auctioned off to the highest bidder. • Slaves worked in mines or fields or as servants. Most worked in fields. • Lifetime of bondage that was carried on for generations. • Slaves kept African traditions alive – music & stories • Resistance and rebellion – more common than you might think!

26. Stono 1739

27. Consequences in Africa • Many societies in Africa lost their fittest, best people over several generations. • African families were separated. • Introduction of guns.

28. Consequences in the Americas • Led to growth of the colonies • Economic (plantations) • Cultural (strict racial hierarchy) • Led to economic and social divisions among regions  Civil War • Intermarriage and mixed race populations (but not in British North America)