Why And How Did Slave Traders Try To Enslave African People

Question 1

In which country can Bunce Island be found?

Answer 1

Sierra Leone

Question 2

Over two and a half centuries, how many African people were enslaved by British slave traders?

Answer 2

Over two million people

Question 3

What was the name of the English company that first set up and ran Bunce Island?

Answer 3

Royal African Company

Question 4

Why were some prisoners branded on their skin with ‘DY’?

Answer 4

‘DY’ stood for Duke of York, who was the governor of the Royal African Company

Question 5

What two objects did the historian discover beneath the soil on Bunce Island?

Answer 5

• Part of an English wine bottle
• A nail

Question 6

Why might those objects have been there?

Answer 6

The nail was used to attach slaves to the deck of a slave ship, and the wine bottle suggests English traders brought wine to Bunce Island

Question 7

By 1685, how many enslaved Africans were being transported each year from Africa to America in British ships?

Answer 7

Around 40,000 slaves

Question 8

Why did the British government allow more British merchants to get involved in the trade of enslaved people in the 1700s?

Answer 8

• The Royal African Company could not supply enough slaves
• Independent merchants could make significant profits

Question 9

What crop was grown in the American state of Virginia by British settlers in the seventeenth century?

Answer 9

Tobacco

Question 10

Why did tobacco require so many workers?

Answer 10

Tobacco is a labor-intensive crop that requires constant care and attention

Question 11

Suggest two ways in which laws in the British colony of Virginia were designed to uphold slavery.

Answer 11

• Laws restricted the rights of enslaved people
• Laws enforced severe penalties for those who helped enslaved individuals escape