Archaeology of the Slave Trade & Slave Ships Flashcards
What event did slavery coincide with 11,000 years ago?
invention of agriculture
When and where were the earliest documented slavery dates?
3500 BCE, Sumer culture of Mesopotamia
When was slavery widespread?
the ancient world
Why were people enslaved? (5)
debt, crime, prisoners of war, abandoned children, or born to enslaved parents
How was slavery different prior to European and Arab involvement? (2)
- Spain and Portugal enslaved people from many different places
- before ~1500, African kingdoms traded enslaved people with European and Arab traders
What led to the development of chattel slavery?
European traders entered Africa, traded enslaved people for goods and shipped them to the Americas
What was the Portuguese Age of Discovery’?
explorations down the coast of West Africa beginning in the 15th century
How did improved nautical technology lead to European colonization and slave trade in West Africa? (2)
- the caravel
- mapping of the West African coast
What opened possibilities to European enslavers?
maritime contact
Who led the beginning of the transatlantic slave trade?
Portuguese and Spanish (Iberian)
Why were the first Africans transported to Hispaniola in 1501? (3)
- prior to that, the Spanish had enslaved the native Taino people
- needed more enslaved people to work the sugar plantations
- by 1540, had enslaved and imported 30,000 Africans to Hispaniola
When did the Portuguese import enslaved Africans to Brazil?
1545
When was slavery abolished in Brazil?
1888
What were four major slave trading ports in West Africa?
- Bunce Island, Sierra Leone
- Cape Coast Castle, Ghana
- Elmina Castle, Ghana
- Wydah, Ghana
How did African societies benefit from trade with Europeans?
they were able to acquire more wealth
How did unequal power lead to warfare and violence over who could capture the most enslaved people to trade with Europeans, and how can this be seen in the archaeological record? (4)
- destabilized many African nations
- supply and demand
- constant, unpredictable violence/kidnapping
- coastal groups often moved further to the interior, to high mountains or more defensible spots
Why are there so few excavations on slave shipwrecks? (2)
- as of 2008, only three slave ships excavated, studied and published: Henrietta Marie, Fredensborg, and Adelaide
- others exist, but were not being used for slave trade when they were wrecked so we do not have material remains of them as slave ships
What is the Slave Wrecks Project? (2)
- an international network of researchers and institutions hosted by the National Museum of African American History and Culture
- uses maritime archaeology, historical research and the study of sunken slave ships
What was the Henrietta Marie? (6)
- French built, 17th century, captured by English
- sunk in 1700
- found in 1972
- no enslaved people left on board, captors sold 191 in Jamaica prior to wreck
- made two voyages as a slaver, 1697 and 1699
- freight included iron, beads, pewter, weapons, people, and sugar
How was Henrietta Marie discovered and excavated? (2)
- 1972, Mel Fisher and gang searching for treasure of Nuestra Señora de Atocha
- 1983, Henry Taylor and David Moore excavated the ship
What sort of artifacts were found on board the Henrietta Marie? (2)
- speak to experiences of Middle Passage
- over 7,000 total: bilboes, two cauldrons, elephant tusk, bell with name, 30,000 glass beads, crew gear
What sort of resistance occurred aboard slave ships? (5)
- enslaved people rose up against slave ship captains and crew on 1 in 10 voyages
- most common while still on coast of Africa
- crew violently punished enslaved people who fought for their freedom
- death from revolt, punishment, torture, or illness could be compensated by European insurance companies and investors
- some enslaved people starved or killed themselves rather than endure the horrors of the Middle Passage
What was the Clotilda? (5)
- built in 1855, Mobile, Alabama
- last known slave ship to arrive in U.S.
- Timothy Meaher and Capt. William Foster
- 1860: bought 110 people from Kingdom of Dahomey and trafficked them to America
- importation of enslaved Africans was illegal since 1808
What was the role of slavery in Jamestown? (4)
- 1619: first enslaved people are transported to Jamestown
- captured Portuguese ship
- British brought enslaved people to Jamestown, their permanent settlement in North America
- beginning of racial slavery in future U.S.
When were slaves first brought to New Amsterdam?
1626
What confirmed the identity of the Henrietta Marie?
the ship’s bell
When was the importation of slaves outlawed in the U.S.?
1808
