The atlantic slave trade Flashcards
what were the conditions of the slave factories?
- dark
- shackled together
- diseases common (malaria)
- overcrowded
what were the different passages of the triangular trade?
- Outward passage (4-6 weeks)
britain to africa - Middle Passage (38 days)
africa or west indies
-Home Passage (50-60 days)
west indies to britain
what was brought from the outward passage?
- textiles, guns and alcohol
- traded these for slaves
what was the middle passage for?
transporting slates to the west indies, slaves sold for large profit at auctions to work on plantations
what did the home passage bring back?
- cotton, tobacco and sugar that was produced by slaves
- sold for a high profit
what was the cultural effect of the slave trade on africa?
- cultural traditions not passed on due to decrease in population
- loss of traditional culture due to European influence eg languages
what was the economic effect of the slave trade in africa?
- african societies left underdeveloped due to loss of population
- coastal villages became ports for slavery and trading
- African chiefs that obtained a lot of guns were more powerful and could capture more slaves which made them more rich
what were the social impacts of the slave trade on africa?
- disease spread due to the movement of people
- europeans brought deadly diseases with them eg smallpox
what were the conditions of the middle passage?
- smelly
- dark
- chained together
- buckets for human waste
- whipped if didn’t move quick enough
what was life like on the west indies plantations?
- field work: 12 hours, 7 days a week, no holidays
- sugar mills: hot, humid, dangerous
- house work: cook, clean, women often rapes by masters
- food: poor quality, rarely given meat
why was resistance so hard on the middle passage?
- thrown overboard
- would be whipped
- severe punishment
- no weapons
- thumbscrews
- weak from disease and hunger
why was resistance on the plantations so hard?
- branded: easily identified
- whipped
- no where to go, easily captured
- starvation
- thumbscrews
- didn’t speak the same language couldn’t communicate
what was the impact of the slave trade on britain?
- creates jobs for sailors and dock workers
- jobs in iron and metal works for chains and shackles
- growth of new industries like copper smelting, sugar refining, glass making
- slave merchants made huge profits and became very rich
- wealthy individuals invested profits from slave trade into funding schools, libraries ets
what was the negative impact on the caribbean?
- slaves unable to do any other jobs as sugar work was all they knew
- established racist attitudes: black africans physically and intellectually inferior
- punishments carried out in public as a warning to other slaves about consequences of disobedience
religious arguments for ending slave trade?
- all people should be treated with kindness and love
