The Atlantic Slave Trade Flashcards
Atlantic “Sugar Islands”
start of the portuguese colonialization. Began large scale slave labor. Azores ideal for growing sugar cane, French Caribbean: San Dominique, Martinique, Haiti
Brazilian sugar plantations
- Indigenous labor and began importing African slaves in the 16th century. Slave labor boosted the sugar economy
Multinational Complicity
every major European power invested massive capital from their banking systems in plantations which became multinational enterprises, different European countries all had a stake in the plantation sytem by engaging in the transport of slaves and goods
Capital-intensive mass production
This capital-intensive approach involved the mentality of viewing slaves as “factory machines” as opposed to human laborers. This sense of associating slaves with machinery was at play among the sugar plantations in Brazil and the Caribbean and served to be the reason for the huge inflow (and merciless abduction of) slaves from Africa.
Haiti Slave revolt 1792
Haiti founded the first independent state in the Americas after a slave revolt expelled colonial rulers.
Olaudah Equaino
“Slave from Africa that was able to buy freedom later on in life.
Once he became free, he became an important member of abolitionist movement → compelling voice against brutalities of slave trade.
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Thomas Phillips– Captain of the hannibal
Writes account of slave voyage from England to Africa to the Barbados Islands saying slaves would rather drown themselves than make passage and how traders would force feed the slaves and make them dance on the decks. Phillips himself was more “humane” than other captains. He saw them as God’s children
Methods of bargaining
Would try to impress African kings with materialistic, luxury goods
Cowries
Seashells used as currency by the African people
“Middle Passage”
The middle passage refers to the process of transporting slaves from Africa to different parts of the world. It included terrible treatment and abuse of African people. They were treated like products instead of people.
Demographic impact of slave trade
The slave trade created a spread of different people from Africa, Europe and America. Not only did the colonialism create the spread of Europeans in America but also it caused a huge demographic change by importing so many slaves
Triangular trade
This is a trade system that would integrate plantations, silver, and slaves out Africa = merchant ships completing three legs of triangle: Europe, Africa, and the Americas. From Africa (slaves) to the Americas (sugar, tobacoo, gold) to Europe manufactured goods, weaponry).
King Afonso I of Congo
tried to convert them to Catholicism but failed because their country was too diverse. Like the Swahili coast, the inability to dominate a country that had no soul was useless.
Socio-economic Impact of Slavery on Africa
In Africa alot of the human labor and natural resources were stolen and exploited and were only traded for luxury items such as shells and beads. This worthless trade completely debilitated the economy.
Implications for the Rise of the West
Due to the exploitation of slave labor from native and African populations, as well as the extraction of wealth from colonies (like the mines at Zacatecas and , the West was able to experience an economic boom, and could afford to industrialize esp. with new markets found in African and colonial communities.
