SLAVE TRADE PROJECT

BY: ASMITA DHAKAL

DEFINITION

The “North-Atlantic slave trade”, which is also commonly known as “Transatlantic slave trade” was the international trade in slaves the world has ever known. The slaves (who were African and Caribbean people) were enslaved and supplied to North America and other parts of America for exchange of goods like cotton, rum etc. As the slaves were taken to world (countries) near Atlantic Ocean, this trade is called North-Atlantic Slave Trade. Most slaves were shipped from West Africa and Central Africa. Generally slaves were taken through coastal trading with Africans, but some were captured by European slave traders to make double benefit. Historians believe that slaves reached America but they were only half the number which was taken from Africa.

Before 16th century Portuguese used to trade only deposits of gold from Africa but then they decided they could use those people for more readily need- labours. Africans couldn’t be simply traded like normal people because they may escape easily, so what the Europeans thought was maybe they could be – slaves. That was more treating like animals than human beings.

By the 18th century the trade was spread almost everywhere. It was a trade which was especially fruitful, since every stage of the journey could be profitable for merchants -- the infamous triangular trade. So, this trade went on and on.

WHEN, HOW AND WHY IT TOOK PLACE

WHEN

Started from: 1450 - Spanish & Portuguese started slaving in Africa
Ended in: 1865 - Smuggling slaves still continued until the end of the civil war (although it was declared illegal from 1808)

HOW

A. Millions of Africans were captured, sold, and/ or traded for European goods
B. They were transported across the Atlantic Ocean on slave ships that came from Portugal, Spain, England, etc. to North America and others parts of America.
C. Some were raided and kidnapped by other traders along the voyage.

WHY

European (British) empire was taking over the world. They had to do lots of developments which required labour. But they lacked one major resource - a work force. Native Americans had proved unreliable (most of them died from disease and were decreasing rapidly) and Europeans were unsuited to the climate and suffered under tropical diseases. Africans, on the other hand, were excellent workers: they often had experience of agriculture and keeping cattle, they were resistant to all diseases, and they could be "worked very hard" on everything. Because of these all it was decided that Africans should be made the slaves.

SLAVES, WHO THEY WERE?

Slavery is a forced labour in which people are treated as, the property of others. Slaves are made against their will and are deprived of any freedom. Slavery was allowed before, but now it is illegal.

Slaves were the African people who were bought by European traders and were sold to American traders and other traders. Before they were slaved by other countries, they were also slaved within their country. But that slavery meant more different term to what the Europeans served them as. "Slavery", in African cultures was generally more like ‘contract agreed to be servant’. Slaves in Africa were not enslaved for life. They were paid wages and were able to freedom. The first slave trader was Antão Gonçalves, a Portuguese explorer.

Before taken to the voyage, the victims were held in "slave castles" and deep pits where many died from multiple illnesses and malnutrition.

PHASES OF THE SLAVE TRADE

CAPTURE

In the first phase it was the job of capturing Africans and imprisoning them in forts, or barracoons on the coast before they were taken aboard of European ships. The journey was long and it is estimated that in 20 million slaves, half did not make it to the coast.

A. MIDDLE PASSAGE – TIGHT PACK

In the second phase it was voyaging the slaves in “slave ships”. The ships were so tightly packed that no one could even move their body anywhere. Mortality (death rate) ...

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PHASES OF THE SLAVE TRADE

CAPTURE

A. MIDDLE PASSAGE – TIGHT PACK

In the second phase it was voyaging the slaves in “slave ships”. The ships were so tightly packed that no one could even move their body anywhere. Mortality (death rate) was higher, but the profit was also higher as there would be more slaves. But then more than half of the slaves died of:

Hunger
Diseases
Not enough air
No light
Suffocation
Malnutrition
Dehydration
Not enough space

B. MIDDLE PASSAGE – LOOSE PACK

These were the slaves who were kept into the slave ships which were loose packed. Here much less slaves were kept than in tight pack. So, mortality (death rate) was lower. But as there were fewer slaves profit was also lower. But many could survive to the end.

SEASONING

After the voyage they were brought to Caribbean and were kept there in brutal camps for 4 – 5 months. The place was even worse than the ship there. There they were trained how to become slaves. They were also taught to respect their masters and they were told to always act like a servant and not more than that.

HOW WERE THEY TREATED

All the slaves were treated very brutally. Slaves were crammed into ships where many died of disease. A ship often had 30 crewmen and carried about 300 slave men, women and children, who were all chained to each other in a tiny space. They were kept on wood boxes with only about 45cm space to sit up.

In the West Indies the slaves were forced to work on sugar plantations. They were treated with appalling cruelty, often being whipped. Some were whipped or worked to death. Many soon died of disease. Those who survived lived in simple huts with only a bed, a table and benches and a few cooking utensils.

Often in the ships they were forced to dance and if they didn’t then they would be whipped. The drunken crewman would also kill them if slaves disobeyed them.

SLAVE AUCTIONS

When the slave ship docked, the slaves would be taken off the ship and placed in a pen in the figure. There they would be washed to make them look healthier and make as much money as possible. They would also be branded with a hot iron to identify them as slaves. Slave Auctions were then advertised. The slaves were made to stand on a raised platform. Then they were sold to the person that bid the most money for them.

There were two different classes of slaves. Upper-class was “House slaves”. House slaves were taken to their owner’s home. They were given different names. They lost their culture, identity, social relations. Owners treated them with brutality: overwork, hard punishment, malnutrition. They were forced to work all day long and were only given one meal a day. They were also not given any wages.

Low-class was “field slaves”. They were taken to work in the fields. Many of them worked in the fields from dawn until dark. They were also not paid any wages and were made to work long and hard. They were whipped if they rested for a single time. Even a pregnant enslaved woman could not rest.

Most slaves were only given one set of clothes for winter and one set for summer. They were fed whatever their Master chose to give them for the day and had to make dishes out of things they could find. The slaves lived in one-room cabins with their whole family and slept on straw filled mattresses. The cabin roofs were usually leaky and in the winter the cabin filled with smoke because of the fireplace. They had to do whatever they were told. Slaves were punished if they did not mind their masters or work hard or fast enough. Usually they worked up to 18 hours a day. They used to get a day off at Sundays though. Women worked the same as men.

HOW WAS BRISTOL RELATED

Bristol's port was the second largest in England after London and as it is near to the river side it has been an important location and has acted as centre for various traders from ages ago. Before 16th century (when the slave trade hadn’t started) Bristol used to trade goods like woollen cloth, coal, lead, and animal hides with France, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, and some parts of North Africa. Bristol’s trading with the Caribbean and North America began to succeed.

The Royal African Company which had control over all trade between countries in Britain and Africa had started trading slaves. As slaves were highest demand at that time and seeing that they would make double profit Bristol wanted to join African Slave Company. But after few time Bristol started trading slaves independently. They traded their first slave ship “The Beginning” (full of African slaves) to the Caribbean. They profited a lot as well. By 1807, 2,108 slave ships left Bristol to make the trip across the Atlantic with slaves. Bristol now was major slave trade city. All the slave ships passed the dock of Bristol Harbour. Not to forget “Bristol was one of the three points of the Triangular Slave Trade”.

WHAT WAS IT

Literally, Triangular trade is a term indicating trade among three places. This trade either exports the things or imports the things.

Historically, this was the name given to the trading route used by European merchants who exchanged goods with Africans for slaves, shipped the slaves to the Americas, sold them and brought goods from the Americas back to Europe. Merchants who traded in this way could get very rich indeed as American goods fetched a high price in Europe. It was called the triangular trade because of the triangular shape that the three legs of the journey made. The first leg was “The outward Passage”, journey from Europe to Africa where goods were exchanged for slaves. The second, or middle, leg was “The Middle Passage”, the journey of the transportation of slaves to the Americas. The third and final leg was “The Return Passage”, the journey of transport of goods from the Americas back to Europe.

This is also called Transatlantic Slave Trade because this journey was made all the way through Atlantic Ocean. The Triangular Trade operated during the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries.

MAP OF TRIANGULAR TRADE

Below is the map on how triangular trade looked like -

From here we can see that this trade was actually traded between three countries that make distinct triangle shape, each leg traded for different things:

*Outward passage* – traded with goods like: trinkets, beads, copper rods, cotton goods, guns and alcohol.
*Middle passage* – traded with enslaves Africans.
*Return Passage* – traded with raw materials like: sugar, tobacco, rum and molasses.

THE THREE PASSAGES

OUTWARD PASSAGE

This is the passage where the goods were transported from Europe to Africa. The slave trade was a “door to success for European traders. They used to trade manufacturing. The outward voyage from Bristol was made with trinkets, beads, copper rods, cotton goods, guns and alcohol which were to be traded in exchange of the slaves who were in coast of West Africa. African traders used to bargain a lot but it was fine as Europeans would get double profit from Americans for the slaves. Europeans also cheated a lot as used to raid and kidnap some slaves for free. So, the trade was never fair and was full of blackmail, deceit, revenge and fraud. Slaves were held in forts and barracoons on the Slave Coast until ships arrived to transport them across the Atlantic Ocean.

MIDDLE PASSAGE

It is the passage where African slaves were transported to West Indies and America as part slave trade. Ships departed from Africa full of slaves which were sold by Europe to America. Almost 15% of the Africans died at passage as they were already exhausted by the journey they had made in African Ports. The total number of deaths in whole trade was up to 4 million, among which 2 million died in Middle Passage.

This journey was the hardest among all the voyages. The slaves were chained up with heavy iron-chains and tortured in all way so many slaves died. The voyage took from 2-3 months. Once they were landed aboard they were inspected for auction. There slaves were bought by the traders. Families were then split up.

RETURN PASSAGE

This is the last passage of the triangular trade. Now the slaves are sold at the auction, the ship needs to be uploaded again with sugar, rum, spices, cotton and others goods from West Indies and America to sail back to Britain again. Then finally ship is ready to sail and to finish its twelve months trip. The journey could take between 6-8 weeks. The journey was dangerous. Sometimes the ship sank or was destroyed near the coasts which could mean a lot of loss to the owner of the ship. That’s why most of the ships were jointly shared between two merchants. Once the ship loaded with goods was safely backed to Bristol (which was the biggest port at that time) the cargo was unpacked and sold to European traders for higher profit.

WHO WERE INVOLVED

Traders from the Americas and Caribbean received the enslaved Africans. European powers such as Portugal, the United Kingdom, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Brandenburg, as well as traders from Brazil and North America, all took part in this trade. There are lots and lots of other countries who either imported the slaves or were part of slave trade routes.

= Places where the slaves were imported

= Slave Trade Routes

= Where the slaves were taken from

BAD IMPACTS OF SLAVERY

Slave trade gave rise to many problems in the fields like – mankind, economy, society, racism etc. some of the effects are:

A sense of inferiority/superiority
Inhumanity
Injustice
Continued cruelty
No equality
Misidentification
Ignorance
Discriminated of skin colour
Imbalanced population
Improper development
Demographic disaster
Continued deterioration in socio-economic conditions
Hampered the self-esteem of Black People
Abuse and harassments
Caused a civil war

There are lots more affects that slavery caused on different ways. But one main impact it caused is: Racism, which can still be found on most places. It means discriminating the people because of their race and colour.

By 1850 slavery had increased in number of 4 million. Cotton gin was invented which made slaves much more productive. But then a system of Underground Railroad was introduced. It was a secret network of houses and people who were against slavery. This system was introduced in 19th century and it was the first step to abolish slavery. Many people contributed to it:

Except for that many runaway slaves were there as well who wanted freedom. By that time in many countries like- Britain, Portugal and in some other parts of Europe, protest against slave trade had started. Led by Quaker Thomas and William Wilberforce, the movement was started and many people joined the protest. However, it was opposed by some people. The first country to declare the ban of slave trade was Denmark. Britain banned the slave in 1807. The last country to declare slavery as illegal was Brazil in 1831.

But in some colonies of Britain slavery still remained. So, a thought was made that slavery should be abolished fully.

Abolitionism was a strong move to end the slave trade for once and for all. Because slavery was the power of America it rebelled and American civil war held. During the Civil War, after the battle, President Abraham Lincoln gave a speech in which he declared the slaves to be free. It was called The Emancipation Proclamation. The date was January 1, 1863. The slavery was prohibited throughout the country – America.

100 years after the African Americans were freed, they still were not considered equal in many parts of the country:

Despite this, black people begin to fight for equal rights. Many whites also believed in equality for all. Together, blacks and whites marched for Civil Rights. But it was not really easy. Many people were hurt and killed. Martin Luther King was a minister and a black leader. He was a main leader to fight for civil rights. But he was also murdered. However, the battle was eventually won. In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act. This Act made it illegal for any Americans to be discriminated against their race, color or skin.

PICTURE GALLERY

Now we have come to the end of this research project about “North-Atlantic Slave Trade”. I have put lots of information about slave trade. And most important thing is that now I have learnt much more about what slave trade was and how it went on.

Slave trade was not only practised in Europe or America but there was also Asian and Arab countries related to this trade. It was called – Arab slave trade. The slaves were taken also to those countries like they were taken to America, Brazil etc. so, we can clearly notice that slave trade was such huge and popular but infamous trade. It is actually a hard deal to abolish the things that are practised by whole world. But still after the fight for humanity and civil war, equality was finally signed by all countries and people.

Main people who contributed for this revolutionary change are – Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of United States. And the other people are – William Lloyd Garrison, John Greenleaf Whittier, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frederick Douglass, Charles Henry Langston, and John Mercer Langston. They were all the abolition reformers who believed in equality. We all also must choose for equality and justice.

I have referred to many websites and also borrowed some books about slavery from libraries.

Some of the links are mentioned below -

Some of the books I referred are the following:

“ Bristol and transatlantic slavery”: edited by Madge Dresser and Sue Giles
“Slavery obscured”, written by Madge dresser

I have also referred to many other sources to get the required information about slave trade. These all sites have helped me a lot to write what exactly is required.

Thank – you!