Slavery in America

1609-1865
Origins
• Slavery has existed since the
beginning of human history.
• People were enslaved for a
number of reasons some of
which include; being captured
in battle, owing a debt or being
born to slave parents.
• The word “slave” comes from
the Slavic people of eastern
Europe who were conquered
so often that the their name
became synonymous with
servitude.
• Most cultures around the world
have practiced slavery in one
form or another.
Middle Passage
• The leg of the Atlantic slave
trade that transported African
people from Africa to slave
markets in the Americas.
• It was called the Middle
Passage because it was the
second of the three part
triangle trade route.
• Slaves were packed tightly on
ships, shackled and fed very
little for the 3-5 month
journey.
• About 18 million Africans
were transported between
1600 and 1800, with about 3
million dying on the way.
 Doorway of no return

1 1

Middle El Mino Slave Castle

Passage Ghana

2
 Arrival in America
• Native Americans were
originally enslaved by the
Europeans, but after many died
from diseases, they began
importing African slaves who
were resistant to European
diseases.
• The first African slaves arrived
Slave Auction in America on a Portuguese
ship at Jamestown, VA in 1609.
• Prior to arrival in America
slaves were usually fed better in
order to make them look
healthy.
• Slaves were auctioned off to
plantation owners and
businessmen from the city and
performed a variety of tasks.
 Slave Codes
Slave tags, similar to • Slave codes were laws
dog tags were worn by
slaves.
meant to control slaves.
• These codes forbid slaves
from learning to read,
owning firearms, or
marrying a white person.
This slave collar was A slave yolk was used to
• The penalty a slave faced
equipped with bells. bind two slaves together. for learning to read was
having a thumb cut off!
• These laws also made the
children born to slaves
automatically slaves for life
(generational slavery).

Captured African slave The ends of a whip were

tipped with iron barbs
 Slaves Resisted!!
• Slaves didn’t just sit back and
accept a life of servitude
• Slaves resisted in a number of
ways including; escaping, slowing
down on the job, intentionally
doing a job wrong or participating
in violent rebellion.
• One of the most famous slave
Nat Turner revolts occurred in Virginia. A
slave named Nat Turner led 70
Southern account of other slaves in the killing of 55
Turner’s rebellion.
white men, women and children.
Turner and his men were later
captured and hung.
• Slaves also resisted by singing
spirituals, or religious folk songs
that often contained coded
messages.
• Slave spirituals led to the creation
Reward Poster
of both jazz and the blues.
 The Underground Railroad
• The Underground Railroad was
a large network of people who
helped fugitive slaves escape to
the North and to Canada.
• It is estimated that up to 100,000
slaves escaped the South with
the help of “conductors”, or
Harriet Tubman guides. The most famous of
these guides was Harriet
Tubman.
Lawn Jockeys were used
to mark stations on the
• Slaves escaping North would
underground railroad. use a series of “stations”, or safe
houses to rest in along the route.

• The paths that slaves traveled

towards the North were known
as “tracks”.
This quilt shows the track
pattern which told escaped • While slavery was outlawed in
slaves that this was a
“station”, or safe place.
the North, escaping slaves were
not truly free until they reached
Canada.
 Wheatley’s Holden House
Burlington Jersey City

Croft Farm
Cherry Hill

Peter Mott House

Bethel AME Church Lawnside
Greenwich Township

* In 1745 there were about 4,000 slaves in New

Jersey, mostly in the southern part of the state.
 The Abolition of Slavery
• From 1861-1865 Americans
in the North and South fought
the Civil War over the issue
of slavery.
• A total of more than 600,000
people on both sides died.
• In January of 1863, President
Lincoln made clear that he
sought to end the institution
of slavery when he signed the
Lee surrendering to Grant Emancipation Proclamation.
• After the war, the thirteenth
amendment to the
Constitution was added
ending slavery in the U.S.
• Slavery had been abolished
Emancipation Proclamation
in New Jersey since 1804.