CH 1: Atlantic Origins Flashcards
What is the significance of Sullivan Island?
where more enslaved Africans arrived first in North America than any other place
Where would slaves stay when they first arrived at Sullivan Island?
“pest houses”
- stayed there for quarantine period before being taken to Charleston for sale
Why were slaves being quarantined when they first arrived on Sullivan Island?
farmers didn’t want to contract potential diseases from Africa/the bacteria infested boats they traveled on
How long did the Trans-Atlantic slave trade last?
- 5 centuries
- along Atlantic side of Americas down to European colonies in Caribbean + Central/South America
What did the Trans-Atlantic slave trade rely on?
European management/capital/shipping
US production of cash crops (mostly sugar) to feed Euro demand
EU
Which civilization popularized the use of slavery?
the Romans
- 40% of Italian peninsula pop. made of slaves
- system run for over 200 yrs.
- would dec. as economic institution in Europe after Roman empire collapse
- still widely adopted by Mediterranean pop. + much of continental Europe
(FSWS)
What was the Roman legal status of slaves adopted by continental Europe after the Empire’s fall?
classified slaves as “chattel” (property of another)
- provided legal basis for Crusaders to enslave enemies + sell them off to agricultural enterprises
- Crusaders = using same logic as Muslim conquerors before them who’d enslaved Christians
- agriculture began to grow rapidly in Mediterranean post 11th century
(PCA)
How had Europe changed by the end of the 13th century?
plantation system established
- centered on island of Cyprus + focused on providing sugar to Euro market
- some who worked in cane field were free + some were serfs
- sugar production inc. identified w/ slave labor
(CSS)
Where did Mediterranean shippers get their sugar plantation workers from?
Balkans + Southern Russia + Asia Minor + North Africa
- people who spoke Slavic languages
- those from N Africa marched across Sahara from Sudan
(PT)
How did slavery by the end of the 13th century spread over the next 200 years?
- first to Crete + Sicily
- then to coastal Spain + Portugal
- by 1450 = slave sugar plantations existed in all western Mediterranean + nearby Atlantic islands
(FTB)
How were the motives of the European explorers from the middle of the 15th century on different than their predecessors?
not about spreading Christianity + seeking geographical knowledge
- Euro rulers sponsored missions to garner wealth for state
- most individuals had eye on gaining personal fortune
(EM)
What was the result of many of these post 15th century missions in the Atlantic?
some wealth found in Africa/Americas but not many Atlantic border lands possessed obvious riches
- forced colonies to turn towards agriculture exportation (sugar the main focus)
How did the colonial agricultural economy of the 16th century develop?
went alone tropical Atlantic rim
- first off islands of West Africa (Sao Tome became leading sugar producer by 16th century)
- northeastern Brazil becomes leading sugar producer by 17th century
- 1640 = export economy had spread to Lesser Antilles + English tobacco growing North American colonies
(FN)
How did the plantation model change as the Atlantic economy expanded?
became accepted way to make profits from great expanses of land
What was the catch in establishing plantations overseas?
finding adequate # of workers very difficult
- native Americans never lived up to Euro expectations as field workers
- natives died rapidly from Euro diseases
- those that survived resisted pressures to adapt to work culture of Euros (since they could run away pretty easily)
- close family + had greater knowledge of the land than Euros
(NNTC)
