2.1.2 Slavery

Question 1

What was John Hawkins’ relevance in the slave trade? (4)

Answer 1

• Hawkins was a naval commander and a trader, who realised there was much money to be made from piracy and smuggling in the Caribbean.
• In 1562 he attacked Portuguese ships sailing along the West African coast, and captured 300 slaves.
• He took these slaves over to the Caribbean and sold them there for a hefty profit.
• Hawkins’ smuggling and piracy motivated others in England to do the same. Therefore his actions laid the foundations for the triangular trade which traded goods and slaves between England, West Africa and the Caribbean.

Question 2

By 1619, slaves, mainly from the West Coast of Africa, were introduced to British plantations to make them more profitable. What were the reasons for slaves to be used? (4)

Answer 2

• Enslaved people were a cheap source of labour.
• Plantation owners could buy enslaved people outright, unlike indentured servants.
• Enslaved people had no legal rights, so they worked without payment.
• Any children born to enslaved people became their owner’s property, further increasing the size of the unpaid workforce.

Question 3

Describe the ‘steps’ of the triangular slave trade (3)

Answer 3

• Traders leave Britain, headed for Africa with ships full of goods.
• Traders trade these goods with African tribesmen in return for prisoners from other African tribes; they also kidnap Africans.
• In the Americas, the enslaved people are traded to plantation owners and farmers for goods such as sugar, cotton or tobacco.

Question 4

How did slave traders and slave owners profit?

Answer 4

• Those who traded in enslaved people could expect to earn up to 800% on their investment.
• Slave owners also profited as thy forced enslaved people to work all their lives without wages and in great hardship.

Question 5

Slaves (2)

Answer 5

• Over 3 million Africans were enslaved by the British and forcibly taken to the Caribbean.
• If they survived the horrific journey across the Atlantic, these slaves lived impossibly harsh lives. They were forced into doing intense manual labour on sugar plantations for no compensation. This made the European plantation owners rich.

Question 6

World trade impact of Slave trade

Answer 6

• The triangular trade and the exploitation of West African people brought great wealth to British port cities such as Bristol and Liverpool which exported manufactured goods to West Africa and imported the sought-after products from the Caribbean.
• This marked the beginning of a period in which British would come to dominate world trade.

Question 7

How many Africans were enslaved by the British and forcibly taken to the Caribbean?

Answer 7

Over 3 million

Question 8

Involvement in the slave trade (7)

Answer 8

• Investors: many different people back in Britain, including monarchs such as Elizabeth I and Charles II, gave money and resources to help individuals with the slave trade.
• Charles II was a partner in the Royal African Company which transported 60,000 enslaved Africans between 1680 and 1688. Many slaves were branded with the letters DY, representing the Duke of York (the future James II).
• Shop owners sold sugar and tobacco from the plantations.
• Workers turned the cotton grown on plantations into shirts.
• Dockworkers unloaded ships full of cotton that slaves had grown.
• Bankers lent money to the traders.
• Shipbuilders and shipowners allowed their ships to be used.

Question 9

What was the economic impact of the slave trade on Britain?

Answer 9

Whether directly or indirectly, lots of people in Britain benefited and made money from the slave trade. The British slave trade industry made approximately £60 million between 1761 and 1808. Britain became one of the richest and most powerful countries in the world.

Question 10

What was the social impact of the slave trade on Britain? (3)

Answer 10

• West coast towns and ports - Glasgow, Liverpool, and Bristol - grew into large cities because of the money made from the slave trade.
• Many of the fine buildings in these places were built on the profits of slavery.
• Slavery was so widespread with many powerful people involved, it led to the belief that Europeans were superior to Africans. Belief of social darwinism increased.

Question 11

When was there a campaign started in Britain to get the slave trade abolished?

Answer 11

Late 1700s

Question 12

When did the British parliament abolish the slave trade?

Answer 12

1807

Question 13

When was slave ownership banned, not only in Britain but throughout the British Empire?

Answer 13

1833

Question 14

When slave ownership ended in the British Empire, what did the government agree to do?

Answer 14

The government agreed to pay £20 million in compensation to former slave owners for their ‘loss of property’.

Question 15

The Significance of Barbados (3)

Answer 15

• The first European to arrive at Barbados was a London merchant, Sir William Courten. He landed there in 1625.
• It was a perfect environment in which to grow tobacco and export it back to England for a good profit.
• Soon, Barbados had become home to hundreds of English settlers, who hoped to make their fortune from plantations (farms).

Question 16

Indentured servants

Answer 16

Initially, work on plantations was done by indentured servants - English workers who had no prospects and hoped to make a life for themselves in the Caribbean. An ‘indenture’ is a legal agreement or contract of some kind.

Question 17

The indenture

Answer 17

These indentured servants agreed to work for the plantation owner for seven years, after which time they would be given a small plot of land which they could farm.

Question 18

By the mid-1700s, how many established colonies did Britain have in America?

Answer 18

13

Question 19

What were the economic factors for people leaving Britain to go to the American colonies? (5)

Answer 19

• High levels of unemployment in Britain.
• Low wages for farm hands and labourers.
• Failed harvests caused starvation.
• In North America, plantations growing crops such as tobacco, corn, sugar and cotton gave people the chance to make lots of money.
• North American seas were stocked with profitable cod.

Question 20

What were the religious factors for people leaving Britain to go to the American colonies? (4)

Answer 20

• Christian groups (Puritans, Quakers and Catholics) had suffered persecution in Britain.
• Failure to attend Anglican services was punishable by death.
• In North America different religious groups could join colonies and have religious freedom.
• Some religious groups wanted to migrate in order to convert the indigenous people to Christianity.

Question 21

Why did the British migrate to the American colonies because of War?

Answer 21

The civil war in Britain had resulted in increased conflict between religious groups in Britain.

Question 22

The Quakers (2)

Answer 22

• Some of Barbados’ earliest settlers were Quakers (group of Protestant Christians.)
• They did not believe in the same Protestantism as the majority of people in England at that time and were therefore known as religious dissenters.

Question 23

Jamestown, Virginia Colony Case File (founded, who, why, what)

Answer 23

Founded: 1607
Who: Businessmen who were given permission by James I
Why: To find gold and to grow crops
What: There was some conflict between the early settlers and the indigenous Americans whose land they were occupying. Settlers had to rely on local tribes to help them find and grow food. With support from some indigenous tribes, they began to farm the land successfully, with commodities such as tobacco making Jamestown a success.

Question 24

New Plymouth, Massachusetts Case File (founded, who, why, what)

Answer 24

Founded: 1620
Who: Puritans, arriving on the Mayflower. They would become known as the pilgrim fathers.
Why: To escape the religious persecution.
What: Set up their own religious colony with the aims of fishing and trading with other colonies. They worked hard and farmed offshore cod. They established democratic principles and a constitution to keep their Puritan beliefs central to colony life. These rules would become the foundation of modern America.

Question 25

Sir Walter Raleigh (c1554 - 1618) (5)

Answer 25

• Walter Raleigh was a sea captain for both Queen Elizabeth I and King James I.
• His ventures to explore the Americas were motivated both by money, and by his desire to gain the queen’s favour, by finding new lands which he could claim for England and by competing with the Spanish.
• In 1584, he was sent to set up colonies in Virginia. He established the colony of Roanoke that year.
• The settlers in Roanoke faced numerous problems with their crops and supplies. They came into conflict with indigenous Americans and also caught diseases like malaria.
• Despite the colony being a failure, Raleigh is known as the ‘Father of American colonies’.

Question 26

The indigenous tribes of North America had been there long before any Europeans. They were mostly _______, establishing camps where appropriate. The British were seen as invaders by the indigenous Americans, and today, most people accept that view.

Answer 26

nomadic

Question 27

What impact did the arrival of colonists from Europe have on the indigenous Americans? (6)

Answer 27

• Good relations initially existed with some native tribes, but in general the British did not treat them with respect.
• Many tribes were wiped out by diseases that the settlers brought over.
• British settlers attacked their crops and villages.
• In 1500, there were approximately 560,000 indigenous Americans in ‘British’ territories. However, by 1700, there were fewer than 280,000.
• Many indigenous American tribes moved inland to avoid settlers.
• The indigenous American way of life was wiped out and many adapted to European ways to survive.

Question 28

Today, what percentage of indigenous Americans are there in the USA?

Answer 28

0.7%

Question 29

What metal goods did the slave trade increase the demand for and subsequently created thousands of jobs?

Answer 29

Guns and chains

Question 30

When did the cotton industry in Britain take off?

Answer 30

1750

Question 31

How did the slave trade have an impact on the Industrial Revolution?

Answer 31

• There was a growth in shipping, since goods and slaves were transported between Britain, West Africa and the Caribbean.
• Profits from the trade allowed for growing investment in British industry, which laid the foundations of the Industrial Revolution from the late 1700s.

Question 32

What movement started towards the end of the 1700s to do with slavery?

Answer 32

The ‘abolition’ movement where people began to vocally question the morality of enslaving people.

Question 33

What did the Caribbean trade to Africa for the slaves? (5)

Answer 33

• rum
• iron
• gunpowder
• cloth
• tools

Question 34

What did the Caribbean trade to Britain? (9)

Answer 34

• whale oil
• timber
• furs
• rice
• silk
• indigo
• tobacco
• sugar
• molasses