Issue 3 (Relationship between Slaves and their Owners) Flashcards
Intro
During the period when British were heavily involved with the Atlantic slave trade racism grew and captured Africans were treated with great cruelty.
There was little consideration to their humanity and of those involved in the trade saw this as acceptable.
Prejudice and Racism
Knowledge
The Europeans saw blacks the same way cattle breeders saw their animals. Owners didn’t care for their wellbeing and felt that they were inferior.
Europeans thought they were better than Africans due to their understanding, English and no education. The Europeans thought they could control slaves and teach them to obey their master.
Prejudice and Racism
Analysis
Europeans made a distinct differences in that they called Africans, they would call them derogatory “negros”. Poor whites were called servants. This makes sure people knew who was enslaves and who was free.
Prejudice and Racism
Analysis +
Europeans didn’t consider slaves as the same species of them and they would be treated as property. It was the law if a white man kills a slave them it wasn’t considered as murder.
Financial Considerations
Knowledge
Owners didn’t care so slaves as they bought them. Owners wanted their moneys worth from the slaves so would beat them so that they would work harder.
slaves were so cheap that slaves would beat them to death and could replace them by buying a new one. this was known as wastage.
Financial Considerations
Analysis
slave owners would tightly compact on slaves on one ship so there was no need to make 2 trips, pay more crew workers and rent ships to transport them. The owner’s goal was to get as many slaves as possible alive by the time the slave ship reached the West Indies so the slaves could be auctioned off.
Financial Considerations
Analysis +
Most slave owners lived in Britain and wanted to make as much profits as they can to take back home. they would just sell slaves fast as they just wanted their money to go back home.
Humanitarian Concerns
Knowledge
10 % of slaves normal died on the way to the W.I. due to being close together on the ship many died of disease such as dysentery. They would auction off slaves at the highest price.
the slaves would be oiled up to make look health as were underfed. they didn’t care if were splitting up men for plantations and women for owners houses.
Humanitarian Concerns
Analysis
Slave owners didn’t see them day to day so didn’t bond with the slaves. this means the owners didn’t care about hurting the slave as them seen them as property and not humans.
Humanitarian Concerns
Analysis +
Plantations in the W.I. were small communities and often bonded with their slaves so didn’t treat them as bad. Although the slaves and their owners did form bond this doesn’t mean the slaves were seen in anyway as equal
Fear of Revolt
Knowledge
On ships and plantations there was a constant fear of revolt. There was larger numbers of slaves than whites on ships or plantations. Slaves were fed little so didn’t have strength to fight back.
Crew was paramount to the number of slaves on the ships. Slaves were kept in shackles the full journey and mostly keep below deck.
Fear of Revolt
Analysis
Due to fear of slave resilience Draconian legal laws were put in place which made punishing slaves for running away or resisting legal.
Fear of Revolt
Analysis +
Ex-slaves were called Maroons and they would raid plantations to free slaves. they made a deal with plantation owners who would give them tolerance for leaving the slave system alone.
Religious Concerns
Knowledge
Africa was known as the dark content as it was largely unexplored. Christians were on the the first to bring slaves over as they wanted to convert them to Christianity.
Church of England openly supported slavery and welcomed the idea of converting slaves to Christianity so that they wouldn’t go to hell.
Religious Concerns
Analysis
The Europeans though they giving the Africans salvation by enslaving them so they could live a more saver and accepting life as christans
