The Atlantic Slave Trade (Six Things)

Question 1

How was the slave trade organised?

Answer 1

1. Triangular trade route from Britain to West Africa to the Caribbean
2. Manufactured goods went from Britain to West Africa
3. Enslaved people forcibly moved from West Africa to the Caribbean
4. Raw materials traded from the Caribbean back to Britain
5. British slave factors set up permanent trading posts in Africa
6. Enslaved people would be sold to plantation owners in the Caribbean

Question 2

Why were slaves from Africa used to produce sugar?

Answer 2

1. The use of slave labour kept production costs down
2. Caribbean natives too few in number to produce it
3. Indentured servants from Britain could not withstand the conditions
4. Africa seen as capable of providing a ‘bottomless pit’ of cheap labour
5. Africans could be legally enslaved as not Christian
6. Racist attitudes of the time suggested Africans were inferior

Question 3

Why were tropical crops like sugar important to the British economy?

Answer 3

1. Sugar the most valuable commodity in Europe by 1750
2. Over 60 per cent of British exports in 1800 linked to the triangular trade
3. Sugar in high demand in Britain to sweeten other tropical goods like tea and coffee
4. Sugar cheaper than other sweeteners, such as honey
5. Slavers and planters spent most of their wealth in Britain
6. Large profits could be made due to the use of an enslaved labour force

Question 4

What were the effects of the slave trade on British port cities?

Answer 4

1. Bristol became the centre of Britain’s sugar trade
2. Liverpool’s shipbuilding industry expanded to provide slave ships
3. Merchant banking and insurance brokers developed in London
4. Other cities, like Glasgow and Manchester, profitted from trade in slave-grown goods
5. All became more developed and increased in terms of size and population
6. Monuments were built and street names changed in honour of residents linked to the trade

Question 5

What were the wider impacts of the slave trade on the British economy?

Answer 5

1. Increased individual, corporate and national wealth
2. Profits reinvested into other industries, such as textiles
3. May have helped to kickstart the Industrial Revolution
4. Increased the market for other luxury goods
5. Investment in municipal projects, such as universities and libraries
6. More jobs available in directly and indirectly-connected industries

Question 6

Why did the slave trade have a negative impact on the Caribbean islands?

Answer 6

1. The native ‘Arawak’ population were wiped out
2. Became overdependent on sugar
3. Small-scale farms were taken over by large plantations
4. Natural landscape was destroyed to make way for plantations
5. Slave codes instilled a culture of fear
6. Created a racialised society with a wide gap between rich and poor

Question 7

What were the impacts of the slave trade on African societies?

Answer 7

1. Depopulation, with over 12 million forcibly migrated to the ‘New World’
2. Lack of people to farm the land led to famine
3. Increased tribal conflict as slaves were usually prisoners of war
4. Native crafts and industries died out
5. Law and order collapsed
6. Paved the way for colonisation

Question 8

What happened at slave factories in West Africa?

Answer 8

1. Captured slaves examined by a doctor on arrival
2. Branded as proof of purchase by slave factors
3. Regularly beaten and flogged
4. Usually separated by sex
5. Chained together in underground dungeons for extended periods
6. Could wait for months for slave ships to arrive

Question 9

What was the experience for enslaved people during the Middle Passage?

Answer 9

1. Could be tightly or loosely packed
2. Male slaves kept in the hold until clear of land or in poor weather
3. Women the victims of sexual abuse
4. Had to lie in their own faeces
5. Given food that was unfamiliar and difficult to digest
6. Could be forced to dance for the crew’s amusement

Question 10

How were slaves sold in the Caribbean?

Answer 10

1. Auctions the most common method of sale
2. Could also be sold in scrambles
3. Those not sold could be acquired for free in the ‘refuse’
4. Often covered in oil and had cuts filled with tar to increase value
5. Branded again by plantation owner
6. Sometimes traded repeatedly between plantation owners

Question 11

What were living and working conditions like on the plantations?

Answer 11

1. Some had to build their own homes
2. Accomodation only had a few simple items of furniture
3. Could be given their own patch of land to grow food and raise animals
4. Could work as much as 18 hours a day, often in shift patterns
5. Worked in ‘gangs’ based on strength
6. Most worked in the fields, but some were domestic servants or worked in the boiler house

Question 12

How were enslaved people disciplined and punished on the plantations?

Answer 12

1. Difficult slaves sent to seasoning camps on arrival
2. Some forced to wear iron neck rings
3. Groups of slaves could be chained together while working
4. Threatened with separation from their family
5. Tortured using thumbscrews
6. Might be made to wear a ‘scold’s bridle’ to prevent talking

Question 13

How did enslaved people resist on the plantations?

Answer 13

1. Working badly or slowly
2. Breaking tools or equipment
3. Running away
4. Self-harm
5. Suicide
6. Killing the owner and burning down the plantation

Question 14

Why was it difficult for enslaved people to rebel on the plantations?

Answer 14

1. Fear of punishments
2. Too weak or physically tired
3. Often watched by white overseers or black slave drivers
4. Lacked resources, such as guns
5. Often could not speak the same language as each other
6. Rewards offered for runaways

Question 15

What was the case of the Zong?

Answer 15

1. British slave ship bound for Jamaica in 1781
2. Navigational errors meant it overshot its destination
3. Subsequent lack of water on board
4. Captain ordered 131 slaves to be thrown overboard, hoping to be able to claim the insurance
5. Insurance company refused to pay out and the case went to court
6. Court ruled in favour of the ship’s owners but claim never paid out

Question 16

What were the origins of the abolitionist movement?

Answer 16

1. Part of a revival of Christianity in the 18th century
2. Quakers one of the first to organise opposition by excluding members from taking part
3. Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade formed in 1787
4. Sons of Africa formed the same year
5. Influenced by American, French and Haitian Revolutions
6. Broader mood of the age - Paine’s ‘Rights of Man’ and Wollstonecraft’s ‘Vindication of the Rights of Woman’

Question 17

What arguments were used by abolitionists?

Answer 17

1. Christian groups said it was immoral
2. Some Christians argued it went against the idea that everyone is created equal before God
3. Imperialists said slavery did not fit with the ‘civilising’ mission of the British Empire
4. Many argued it was inhumane
5. Adam Smith suggested slavery was an inefficient form of labour
6. Some noted slave trading was becoming less profitable

Question 18

What methods were used by those who wanted to abolish the slave trade?

Answer 18

1. Thomas Clarkson showed evidence of the trade at public meetings
2. Granville Sharpe fought for former slaves to have legal rights
3. Hannah More helped to organise a boycott of slave-grown sugar
4. Olaudah Equiano wrote an autobiography
5. Josiah Wedgewood made the ‘Am I not a man and a brother?’ cameo
6. John Newton wrote ‘Amazing Grace’ as an abolitionist hymn

Question 19

Why did it take so long to abolish the slave trade?

Answer 19

1. Many afraid abolition would be an economic disaster
2. The West Indies Lobby persuaded MPs to vote against abolition
3. A petition from the people of Bristol in 1775 showed public support for the slave trade
4. Slavers and planters convinced some people that slaves were treated well
5. Support for abolition seen as unpatriotic during the French Revolutionary Wars
6. Scottish MP, Henry Dundas, delayed abolition by insering the word ‘gradual’ into a Bill in 1792

Question 20

Why was the slave trade eventually abolished?

Answer 20

1. William Wilberforce repeatedly introduced Bills in parliament
2. Institutions like the Catholic Church became critical of slavery
3. Numerous petitions showed public support for abolition
4. Sugar grown using non-slave labour in India became cheaper
5. Slave traders had moved their money into alternative industries
6. The threat of large-scale rebellions by enslaved people in the colonies became too risky