SOURCE B: Artwork made of African Slaves being transported to their new destination

Question 1

Determine what kind of source it is?

Answer 1

Drawing/Sketch/Artwork

Question 2

Find out when the source was created?

Answer 2

April 30, 1860

Question 3

Find out who created the source?

Answer 3

A Daguerreotype

Question 4

Determine the context in which the source was created?

Answer 4

It’s a primary source because it is of what the illustrator saw in front of him; he didn’t receive the picture from someone else. On a ship when the African Slaves were being transported to their new destination.

Question 5

Which history subtopic does this source relate to?

Answer 5

It has relation to Experiences of people involved in the Atlantic Slave Trade, including on their journey and on their arrival.

Question 6

How many Africans were transported?

Answer 6

Europeans transported nearly 12.5 million enslaved Africans, about 1.8 million of whom died on the Middle Passage.

Question 7

What years were slaves being transported?

Answer 7

Slaves were enslaved Africans transported from Africa to the Americas between 1500 and 1866 as part of the slave trade.

Question 8

What diseases did the Africans suffer from?

Answer 8

Captive Africans suffered from diseases such as dysentery and smallpox, depression and outright despair, the cruelty of captain and crew, and sexual exploitation.

Question 9

What were the death rates of Africans?

Answer 9

Death rates averaged above 20 percent for captive Africans in the first decades of this slave trade and about 10 percent by 1800.

Question 10

What was the ships’ layouts?

Answer 10

The lower deck of a slave ship was divided into separate compartments for men and women, with the men shackled together in pairs and the women left unchained but confined below.

Africans were left unchained but confined below the ship, while children had the run of the ship. The lower deck was designed with a wooden grating separating the men’s quarters from the main deck and the portholes to facilitate airflow through the lower deck.

Question 11

How big were the ships?

Answer 11

The ships and their Voyages ranged in size from the ten-ton Hesketh to the 566-ton Parr, which was built by the company to hold already purchased slaves.

Question 12

From what years was the Atlantic Slave Trade?

Answer 12

Nearly two-thirds of the Atlantic slave trade took place between 1698 and British abolition in 1807–1808.

Question 13

Where did the Captain and crews stay?

Answer 13

Captains and crews enjoyed personal cabin space on the top deck, while common sailors slept on the bottom deck.

Question 14

Who were the Captains?

Answer 14

The captain of one of the captains was an employee of a merchant or company.

Question 15

What was the Middle Passage?

Answer 15

The Middle Passage was a period of conflict between the American slave ship and African slaves in Africa.

Question 16

What was the wooden barricade in the ship used for?

Answer 16

There was a ten-foot-tall wooden barricade that bisected the deck at the main mast and extended about two feet beyond the ship’s sides, separated the African men from the women. In case of insurrection, the crew retreated to the women’s side and used the barricado as a defensive fortification.

Question 17

What did the Captains do to keep the slaves in good condition?

Answer 17

To prevent mutiny, insurrection, and sickness, many captains attempted to terrorise the accused by using a combination of cat-o’-nine-tails and horsewhips. These sailors performed the backbreaking and often violent work, such as building the “house” and barricado, cooking and dispensing food, scrubbing the decks and the often feces-covered hold, and policing the captive Africans.

Question 18

Who were the Captive Africans?

Answer 18

Captive Africans were African-American prisoners of war, petty criminals, and common people kidnapped by European traders. They were subjected to cruel punishments and sexual exploitation, and some committed suicide by jumping overboard or refusing to eat.

Question 19

What did the Captains do to the slaves?

Answer 19

The captain of the slave ship, both men and women, hired and managed the crew, sold its cargo for humans on the coast of Africa, enforced harsh discipline on crew members and Africans, and sold the slaves in America for the best possible price. Officers often treated them with special ruthlessness due to their fear of enslavement. Many of the africanans had been separated from their friends, families, and communities when first captured, and then separated again aboard ship.

Question 20

What did the captives secretly do?

Answer 20

They planned their actions carefully, using a variety of means to communicate.

Question 21

What happened to the Africans that survived?

Answer 21

The Africans who survived to arrive in Virginia were cleaned, greased with palm oil to improve their appearance, and prepared for sale, which took place either aboard ship (in what was called a “scramble”) or at a market on shore.