MEP4 The Road To Slavery Flashcards
When did the British bring slaves to the plantations in the Americas and why?
- 1619
- to make them more profitable
Why were slaves considered more profitable workers?
- cheap labour
- plantation owners could buy slaves outright
- they had no legal rights so didn’t need to be paid
- any children born to slaves were also the owner’s property
What was the slave triangle?
the three stage movement of slaves and goods between Europe, Africa and the Americas
How did the slave triangle work?
- traders leave Britain and Europe taking goods to Africa
- goods traded with African tribes for prisoners from other tribes
- taken to the Americas and traded with plantation owners for produce to take back to europe to sell
How much would people trading in slaves expect to make?
800% profit
How much did the slave trade make Britain between 1750 - 1800
Around £60 million
Britain became one of the richest countries in the world
When did people begin to argue the slave trade was wrong?
By the late 1700s a campaign started to get the slave trade abolished
When did Britain abolish the slave trade?
1807
When was slave ownership banned in Britain and across the British empire?
1833
How much did the British government agree to pay slave owners after the slave trade was abolished?
£20 million, for their ‘loss of property’
Which British cities benefitted from the slave trade?
West coast towns such as Glasgow, Liverpool and Bristol grew into large cities because of the money made from the slave trade
