Social Studies Coursework

African slaves were shipped to the West Indies and America as part of the Triangular Trade. Many slaves died on the voyage due to the ghastly conditions that accompanied the Middle Passage and others committed suicide. Portugal held a near monopoly on the export of African slaves for a period of about 200 years from the early 14-1600s. The peak years of the slave trade were during the 16th and 17th century, but Africans were forced across the Atlantic for an astonishing timeframe of around 400 years.

The Portuguese began the slave routes. Europeans built sixty forts along the African coast for defense, trade and slavery. During the marches from inland Africa to the coast, approximately one-thousand miles, there was only a fifty percent survival rate. The slaves would be valued at: male – full price, female- half price and a child would be sold at quarter price.

What were the African reactions to slave trade? (The question requires for you to describe the reaction of Africans from the point of views of peoples, individuals and captives).

At first trafficking humans only occurred in Europe: They would enslave each other and then sell them off. Some Enslaved Africans had already reached Europe, the Middle East and other parts of the world before the 15th century. Most of the slaves were taken from the western coastal states of Africa. The demand for slaves grew as time passed and the suppliers had to step up their activity. To obtain the slaves they would raid villages and small towns. One story from a former slave named, Olaudah Equiano, told his story about how they were captured. He said that his parents went to go work out in the fields while him and his sister sat in the house and played. While they were in the house they heard men outside, broke down the door, and took them away. From then on he and his sister were separated. When they were going to get on the ship at the coast he had seen a recipe that said there were 115 men and 115 women. When they reached the Americas there was a new recipe that said only 201 slaves survived. All of the captured Africans crossed the Sahara desert by walking through the hot sand in metal chains. They would walk to Europe and if they were

They did no more work than the other people in the village did. Their clothing, housing, food and mannerisms were the same as the people who owned them. European influence started to affect slavery in Africa and it was now becoming an enterprise rather than a legal system for punishment. Traders would come to Africa selling goods to these people, who did not have access to these goods before, in exchange for slaves. These traders would bribe chiefs of tribes to go out and capture neighboring villagers in exchange for goods, encouraging the kidnapping and enslavement of fellow Africans. "When a trader wants slaves, he applies to a chief for them, and tempts him with his wares." This was all a part of the European Triangular Trade. Goods were brought to Africa in order to trade with the Africans. Slaves were then shipped to the Americas to produce more goods to be sent to Europe in order start the whole trade cycle again.

Most of the time, the slaves were exploited for the accumulation of the wealth of the whites. The Africans could escape slavery, but not their race and if ever caught they would be punished harshly.

The slaves were put on to these horrible ships as the Glory Field states. While the slaves were being transported they were shoved in to the bottom of the terrifying ship. With barely “any light or even fresh air” as Muhammad from the Glory Field says. An article titled An Account of the Slave Trade on

To really show the horrendous conditions that the slaves endured, the author includes a 1787 replication drawing of the slave ship Brooks. Built in 1781 with a lower deck intended to accommodate 294 slaves, giving each slave a space comparable to the size of a coffin. Adult males were allocated a space six feet long and fifteen inches wide and allowing even less space for adult women, boys, and girls. The height of the same area was just five feet, and did not include any toilet facilities for the slaves. In most cases, the captains would load double the number of slaves their ships were designed for leading to even worse conditions onboard with more mouths to feed but not enough provisions to compensate. Those slaves who died during the journey through the Middle Passage were simply thrown overboard, where their bodies were eaten by ravenous sharks.

The changes in African life during the slave trade era form an important element in the economic and technological development of Africa. Although the Atlantic slave trade had a negative effect on both the economy and technology, it is important to understand that slavery was not a new concept to Africa. In fact, internal slavery existed in Africa for many years. Slaves included war captives, the kidnapped, adulterers, and other criminals and outcasts. However, the number of persons held in slavery in Africa, was very small, since no economic or social system had developed for exploiting them (Manning 97). The new system-Atlantic slave trade-became quite different from the early African slavery. The

The middle passage was truly a harsh and disgusting trip for the africans. However, if africans survived it would get a little better, they were sent to auction blocks where they were sold off like animals. They were then sent to the plantation to whom ever bought them. There, they worked and taught plantation owners how to farm and grow crops more efficiently.

The content of this book is the history of how Africans were treated in the Americas between 1550 and 1812. The author offered his perspective on how Africans were treated in each historical period, which included the colonial period.

The African Slave Trade (pg 27): Portuguese traders likewise ousted Arab merchants as the prime purveyors of African slaves. Some Africans were held in bondage as security for debts; others were sold into servitude by their kin in exchange for food in times of

Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be sold and bought and are forced to do labor. This practice has been around since the very beginning of civilization. This dates back almost 11,000 years ago during the Code of Hammurabi. People are sentenced to slavery due to debt, prisoners of war, punishment for crime, child abandonment, and the birth into slavery. Slavery has been found to be present in various countries throughout history such as Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia. The purpose of slavery was to earn money without having to do all the work. This left people more time to do things they wanted rather than committing their time to work that they do not want to do. The slave trade was invented when

Africans were less defenseless to numerous European ailments than Native American slaves. Starting in 861, a great part of the Caliphate was tossed into Civil War, and the Zanj accepted the open door to revolt between 869-883-1.5-2.5 million executed. After the Portuguese arrived, slaves were frequently exchanged for European products specifically firearms. The Portuguese utilized slaves on their Sugar Plantations in Sao Tome and Madeira. The Portuguese first conveyed African slaves to the New World as right on time as 1500 to take a shot at sugar estates, and they overwhelmed the early exchange. They were immediately supplanted by the Dutch in 1600 who initially foreign made slaves routinely into North America. They were supplanted by the English in the 1700s.The slave exchange produced an ever more prominent interest for slaves prompting to more wars between African tribes to keep up the request; journey from Africa to the New World. Considered the middle section of the triangular trade, also known as The Middle Passage. Slaves were payload and regarded all things considered. Frequently packed into boats and stacked on top of each other. On a few boats, they were either laid level and couldn 't sit up. Anchored together with a team of around thirty people. Ailing health, congestion, and terrible sanitation prompted to many slaves passing on before they ever arrived. Dead bodies were

Early slavery in Africa was a product of conflict. People were enslaved as a result of unpaid debts or crimes they committed. Enslavement was also a tactic of war, but it wasn't necessarily a lifelong sentence. This type of slavery was very different from the slavery that would later occur as a result of European labor demands. People enslaved in Africa were often assimilated into tribes and even families. Even if that weren’t the case, they were more likely to have similar languages, ceremonies, cuisine and customs as their owners. Treatment of enslaved people varied between different regions of Africa, yet was still nothing like the treatment of enslaved people in the Americas. Depending on the circumstance, an enslaved person in Africa could