What is

slavery?
Slavery refers to a condition in
which individuals are owned by
others, who control where they
live at and what they work.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE
A SLAVE OR ENSLAVED PERSON?
 To be a slave is to be
owned by another person.

A slave is a human being

classed as property and
who is forced to work for
nothing.

 An enslaved person is a
human being who is made
to be a slave.
CHATTEL SLAVE
A chattel slave is an enslaved person who
is owned forever and whose children and
children's children are automatically
enslaved.
 Chattel slaves are individuals treated as
complete property, to be bought and sold.
 Chattel slavery was supported and made
legal by European governments and
monarchs. This type of enslavement was
practised in European colonies, from the
sixteenth century onwards.
AFRICA BEFORE TRANSATLANTIC
SLAVERY

GHANA

Benin
CIVILIZATION
the process by which a
society or place reaches an
advanced stage of social
development and
organization.
AFRICA BEFORE TRANSATLANTIC
SLAVERY

GHANA
EGYPT

•AFRICAN
CIVILIZATIONS

Benin
AFRICA BEFORE TRANSATLANTIC
SLAVERY

Egypt Benin

Ghana Mali

African
Civilizations
 Forms of slavery existed in Africa
before Europeans arrived.
 Some countries in the African
continent had their own systems of
slavery.
 People were enslaved as punishment
for a crime, payment for a debt or as
a prisoner of war. Most enslaved
people were captured in battle.
 In some kingdoms, temporary
slavery was a punishment for some
crimes.

 In
some cases, enslaved people could
work to buy their freedom.

 Childrenof enslaved people did not

automatically become slaves
THE ARRIVAL OF THE EUROPEAN TRADERS
 During the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries, European traders started
to get involved in the Slave Trade.
 European traders had previously
been interested in African nations
and kingdoms, such as Ghana and
Mali, due to their sophisticated
trading networks. Traders then
wanted to trade in human beings.
SLAVES IN AMERICA
 They took enslaved people from
western Africa to Europe and the
Americas.
 At first this was on quite a small
scale but the Slave Trade grew
during the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, as European
countries conquered many of the
Caribbean Islands and much of
North and South America.
 Europeans who settled in
the Americas were lured by the idea
of owning their own land and were
reluctant to work for others.
 Convicts from Britain were sent to
work on the plantations but there
were never enough so, to satisfy the
tremendous demand for labour,
planters purchased slaves.
 They wanted the enslaved people to
work in mines and on tobacco
plantations in South America and on
sugar plantations in the West Indies.
 Millions of Africans were enslaved
and forced across the Atlantic, to
labour in plantations in the
Caribbean and America.
Slavery changed when
Europeans became involved, as
it led to generation after
generation of peoples being
taken from their homelands and
enslaved forever. It led to people
being legally defined as chattel
slaves.
• In the 17th and 18th centuries, most
profitable trades was in slaves
• Portuguese, Spanish, French and British
settlers in South America and West Indies
began to grow sugar cane, cotton and
tobacco crops, demand for workers
increased
• Atlantic slave system was develop or
‘Triangular Trade’
• Each leg of the trade carried different
items to trade
•Atlantic slave system was
develop or ‘Triangular Trade’
•Each leg of the trade carried
different items to trade
• Europe to Africa: manufactured
and other goods were exchanged
for slaves
• Africa to Americas: slaves were
sold to plantation owners
• The Americas to Europe: raw
materials such as cotton and
goods such as tobacco and sugar
were traded
GUIDE QUESTIONS:
Explain the origins and workings of the
African slave trade.
•Why, in the European mind, were Africans more
" suitable" for slavery in the "new" world?
•Who was involved? When?
•How were slaves enslaved? Who did it?
•What was middle passage? How did Africans
respond to enslavement and middle passage?
 Capturing of slaves

• Slaves were hunted and captured by

European merchants as well as by their
own people. Stronger African tribes
would capture weaker tribes and sell
them into slavery.
• How European slave traders got
slaves?
• Occasionally they mounted raids on
West African coast
• African and Arab slave traders brought
slaves to slave markets on the West
African coast

• Slave traders brought goods from Europe

which they exchanged for slaves
• Slaves would be
captured and put into
make-shift jails
called Barracoons.
Once enough slaves
were captured they
would be marched to
permanent jails
called factories
located along the
coast.
• The journey from the interior to the
factories might be as far as 1,000 miles.
• Shackled and underfed, only half the
people survived these death marches.
Those too sick to make it were killed
or left for dead.
• Those who reached the factories were
put in jails for as long as a year before
they were boarded on ships.
Factory of Ghana
A slave boat captain could buy a slave for around
$20.00 and could be sold for up to $125.00
depending on the physical appearance.
Men, Women and Children were all captured
and sold into slavery.
-The Factor, or owner of the factory would sell
the African to Slave ship captains. In order to
get a better price the ships Captain would
often offer a dash or bribe to the factor.
-The factor would try anything to get a better
price for slaves.
-Slaves heads were shaved, bodies oiled,
and even drugs were given to make their
bodies bloat. A healthier slave would bring
a better price.
• Once purchased by a slaver, the slave
was usually branded with the owners
initials to ensure ownership
• Slaves then are transported to
Americas on a journey, Middle
Passage
• Between 1700 to 1807, around 12
million Africans were transported
across Atlantic
• 15% died in the journey
Ship Captains became know for their reputations as “Tight
Packers” or “Loose Packers” this referred to the amount
of slaves a captain was willing to put on his ship.

Most vessels at this time could hold up to 400 persons. It

was not uncommon to put 600-700 slaves on a ship.
• Investigations said that conditions on the
ship were horrific
• In 1788, House of Commons in London
found the ship, The Brookes carry 600,
capacity 451

• Huge fortunes were created and ports i.e.

Liverpool, Bristol and Glasgow were built
• Between 1690 to 1807, 11 000 ships left
(1/2 Liverpool) to trade slaves
• Result of the work of the slaves, standards
of living in Britain and Europe rose

• For the 1st time, cheap sugar became

widely available which improved diets

• British industry benefited

• But in Africa, slave trade led to the creation
of powerful West African kingdoms as a
small number of Africans profited from
selling slaves to the Europeans
Middle Passage
• The middle passage to the
New World usually took
anywhere from 50-90 days.
• Slaves were packed like cargo
in the twin decks. They often
had to lie in each others
feces, urine and blood.
• The heat often unbearable
and the air unbreathable
The slaves were often beaten or whipped with a device
called the cat-o-nine-tails. This consisted of nine cords
coated with tar, each with a not at the end. The Cat-O-
Nine-Tails could lash the skin of a slave back to ribbons
with only a few lashings.
Men were often chained in pairs, shackled wrist to wrist or ankle
to ankle. In such cramped quarters, disease such as smallpox and
yellow fever spread like wildfire. The diseased were usually
thrown overboard to prevent the entire cargo from getting the
disease.
Trouble making slaves were often placed in an iron
muzzle.
Slaves were often whipped and beaten, sometimes to the
death.
The conditions were so poor that it was not uncommon
for a slave to try to escape by jumping overboard.
Many would risk a watery death or being eaten by
sharks rather than endure the passage
Eventually, after a 3,700 mile voyage, the slave ship would reach
North America. In order to strengthen them before sale, the slaves
were normally fed better in the days directly before their arrival.

Before they could be sold, the slaves would be oiled again, and any
imperfections, such as scars from whipping, would be filled with
hot tar in order to improve appearance and get the best market
price.
•GROUP TASK
Group 1: The Middle Group 2: Source A
Passage
1. Products
2. Experiences of the
Slaves
3. Resistance

Group 3: Source B Group 4: Source B