6.1) the atlantic trade

Question 1

what is a monopoly?

Answer 1

the exclusive right to trade and profit from an area of business

Question 2

chattel enslavement

Answer 2

a form of slavery where the person is bought and becomes movable property and no longer considered to be human

Question 3

asiento

Answer 3

permission given by the spanish government to other countries to sell slaves to spanish colonies in the americas for 30 years

Question 4

what was the triangular trade?

Answer 4

• a three ways system of trade during the 1600s-1800s
• 1) africa sent slaves to america 2) america sent raw materials to europe 3) europe sent guns and rum to africa

Question 5

what was the middle passage?

Answer 5

• the voyage that slaves had to take
• it went from africa, across the atlantic, to the west indies or colonial america
• it was named so because it was the middle portion of triangular trade route
• many slaves did not survive the journey

Question 6

how did the RAC gain a monopoly?

Answer 6

• the royal charter that set the company up gave it a monopoly on english trade with africa
• this meant that no one else could profit from it and no other companies were allowed to be involved
• the majority of the profits went to charles II (brother of james II)

Question 7

what was the headquarters of the british trade in enslaved africans?

Answer 7

cape coast castle

Question 8

what was the RAC?

Answer 8

• royal african company - a business created by the stuart royal family and their friends
• many of the african people they bought had the initials DY branded onto them, to show that they were the property of the duke of york

Question 9

how/from where did the british control the the trade in enslaved africans?

Answer 9

• it was organised from fortresses along the west african coast - they had 17 castles along the coast
• british ships guns, clothes and iron goods in exchange for gold, ivory and spices and mainly kidnapped and enslaved african people
• between 1672 and 1713 they sent 500 ships to africa, exported goods worth up to 1.5 mil and enslaved 125,000 africans
• 1/5 of those died during the journey and 100,000 were sold to planters in america

Question 10

how were these forts built?

Answer 10

• they could only be built with the permission of the africans
• the colonising nations - britain, the netherlands, portugal and france - weren’t strong enough to conquer and control the land so they somewhat “rented” it from their local rulers

Question 11

what is a royal charter?

Answer 11

• granted by the king
• defines an organisation’s objectives and constitutes its power to govern its own affairs

Question 12

when did the RAC end monopoly and why? what was a contradiction to this idea?

Answer 12

• 1689 the triangular trade was opened up to business - after james II was deposed on the glorious revolution of 1688
• they argued that if private businesses were allowed to join, the business would boom and more profit would flow back to england
• the freedom and equality that the merchants wanted WAS the freedom of being able to take away the rights and liberties of africans and enslave them

Question 13

what were effects of the monopoly ending?

Answer 13

• private businesses began to control the slave trade, which bought lots of wealth to britain but devastation to certain parts of africa
• some african and rulers also profited greatly
• as demand for slave-produced goods grew, so did the demand for labour - hence the slave trade grew

Question 14

impact of chattel enslavement on west africa

Answer 14

• many people were captured in wars between states which were fought using ammunition supplied by the europeans
• traditional african industruies were in decline - even those along the major trade routes
• the economic gap between the two continents widened as young able-bodied workers from africa were captured to work in europe
• africa wasn’t new to slavery but chattel slavery was more inhumane as slaves were not recognised and were only seen as a objects to be bought or sold
• around 10-12 million people were killed in wars, kidnappings and in coastal prisons
• the west african economy became dominated by a system which profited the europeans at the expense of africa

Question 15

when was the treaty of utrecht signed?

Answer 15

1713 - nearing the end of the war of the spanish succession

Question 16

what was the treaty of utrecht?

Answer 16

• spain had control over most of south and central america + mexico and cuba and it wanted cheap labour from africa for its plantations
• it couldn’t build forts or buy african labour due to a treaty signed with portugal (1494) after the war of spanish succession
• therefore spain gave ASIENTO to britain to be provided with slaves - this eventually established britain as a major slave trading nation

Question 17

what kind of challenges did the triangular trade face?

Answer 17

• resistance from africa
• uprisings on slave ships
• piracy

Question 18

resistance of africa

Answer 18

• some african rulers opposed human trafficking and even fought against it
• agaja, king of modern benin attacked and destroyed european forts
• many who were captured tried to run away and some succeeded

Question 19

uprisings on slave ships

Answer 19

• 500 such rebellions took place , where captives tried to take control of the ship
• example: in 1730 little george where captives took control and eventually escaped

Question 20

piracy

Answer 20

• after the spanish war of succession, may men were laid off and wages fell therefore there were too many men seeking few opportunities
• working conditions for sailors were awful and the death rate was high
• there were several mutinies by sailors on slave ships and many of them chose to become pirates
• many pirate crews were diverse (as some pirate were freed slaves) and were run democratically and non-racially
• offered more freedom than ever under british rule until the 1722 law against pirates

Question 21

how did the plantations start?

Answer 21

• settlers started clearing land for cultivation, experimenting with crops such as cotton and tobacco
• tobacco plantations were set up in virginia on land that had been stolen from the native americans
• rich landowners started to buy up smallholdings to create bigger plantations that were supported by investors and banks in england

Question 22

who settled in barbados and st. kitts? and when?

Answer 22

• the island of barbados was uninhabited when the english and dutch settlers started clearing the land for cultivation in the 1620s
• the english and french forced invaded st. kitts and seized it from its natives

Question 23

plantations

Answer 23

large estates in america producing crops such as tobacco, cotton and sugar

Question 24

indentured labour

Answer 24

workers in forced employment, unable to leave until their period of indenture was over

Question 25

why did plantation owners prefer to use indentured (convict) labour?

Answer 25

• they spoke the same language as their masters
• they were cheaper - half the price of enslaved africans
• had hopes of being freed which meant that they would work harder

Question 26

how did the numbers of african people working on the plantations increase?

Answer 26

english carribean 42% to 81% (1660-1700)
english north america 2% to 13.1%

Question 27

what was the average price paid by planters for an enslaved african?

Answer 27

in 1700 the price was about £300 (today)

Question 28

why did plantation owners start preferring african workers?

Answer 28

• coped better with the climate and lived longer whilst the european servants had a high death rate
• their agricultural skills had been developed in a similar climate whereas the euopeans were unable to work in such an environment with subpar agricultural skills
• they were more resourceful and self-reliant whilst the european convicts were somewhat dangerous and unpredictable
• faster at acquiring skills and much more productive because they were threatened with lashings if they did not
• cheaper to clothe and maintain; as wages rose in england, indentured european servants became more expensive
• higher numbers of workers were needed and there were many enslaved people
• because they were ‘owned’ they and their children were the planter’s permanent property
• could be sold on

Question 29

plantocracy

Answer 29

a society governed and controlled by plantation owners, backed up by military force and the law​

Question 30

why did the government support plantations?

Answer 30

• access to raw materials: valuable crops (sugar, tobacco, cotton) for sale in britain and overseas
• new markets in the colonies for british goods eg, iron tools
• work opportunities at a time when there weren’t enough jobs in england
• economic and strategic advantage over other european powers
• large profits for businesses which could then be invested into new projects
• money, through taxation, so that the government could spend more on armed forces and expanding the empire

Question 31

why were large plantations economically viable?

Answer 31

• they were highly organised businesses
• used the latest technological advances
• every activity was maximised towards gaining a profit
• they made use of a factory system; cultivation, manufacture 1, manufacture 2 and transportation and sale

Question 32

demand, supply and profit cycle of the plantation system

Answer 32

1) more and more people in britain wanted to buy sugar > profit for the merchants
2) to meet this demand, planters needed more enslaved afrucans from the african west coast > profit for the slave traders
3) more sugar was produced in the carribean plantations > profit for the plantation owners
4) increased shipments of sugar across the atlantic to britain > profit for shipping companies
5) in britain, those who profited had more spending powers > more money to spend on luxuries

Question 33

arguments that the slave system was not an economic success

Answer 33

• as they were unpaid, they weren’t motivated to work hard
• planters could not hire and fire their employees
• enslaved africans regularly rebelled, ran away or sabotaged the business
• the system itself was difficult to manage, the workers were hard to control and profits were not huge. in the end investors realised this and it was one of the reasons the slave trade was finally abolished
• system would’ve worked better under free european labour

Question 34

arguments that the plantations were highly successful

Answer 34

• they were efficient, effective and modern businesses
• over their lifetime, enslaved workers produced far more profit than the cost of buying them
• planters with enslaved workers made more profit than planters with free workers
• the plantation system was the first example of a highly organised mass workforce on a production line so it paved the way for the industrial age

Question 35

why did planters have to separate the enslaved workers and the european servants?

Answer 35

they feared that some of the indentured workers had found common ground with their fellow african workers. soemtimes uprisings involved servants and enslaved africans working together, which worried the planters.
- 1686 irish indentured workers were accused of ‘being concerned and privy to the late intended risings of the n* to destroy all masters and mistresses’

Question 36

what were the measures taken to separate the servants from the enslaved?

Answer 36

• harsher treatment and sometimes through slave laws
• while both were punished, africans were often treated more severely than europeans

Question 37

why did the number of european indentured workers decline?

Answer 37

• the traffic in enslaved africans was growing and there was a shortage of skilled workers in europe

Question 38

who were the marroons?

Answer 38

• a group of escaped africans in jamaica who formed a community of runaways
• they welcomed new runaways and fought guerilla wars against the planters
• eventually in 1739 they signed a compromise treaty to end the first marroon war

Question 39

when was slavery first challenged by a representative assembly?

Answer 39

• in 1712 after a slave rebellion in new york, some members of the pennysylvania assembly proposed that all slaves in the colony should be freed
• the proposal was rejected, however the assembly agreed to impose a higher charge on buyers for each enslaved person
• but in the end higher authorities reduced that charge so it wasn’t as effective

Question 40

what was the 1722 act of suppression of piracy?

Answer 40

an act to suppress piracy