trade of enslaved africans Flashcards
(17 cards)
the triangular trade
the outward passage - ships loaded goods from britain and sail to west africa to trade for enslaved people. exchanged for guns, metal, cloth. Bristol, liverpool and london were main ports
the middle passage - enlsaved people were loaded and then be shipped to carribean to be sold
the home passage - the ship would load carribean produce to sell in britain, enslaved people were exchanged for sugar, coffee, tobacco and sold for high prices in britain
traingular trade effect on british ports
jobs- created thousands of jobs related top trade eg shipbuilding
buildings- merchants built big houses and public buildings
banks- created to help fund the trade in enslaved africans eg loans (barclays bank)
insurance- insured ships / enslaved people (lloyds)
ports - many ports became wealthy eg glasgow- tobacco
industrialisation - goods such as cotton helped increase industrialisation in britain
slave ‘factories’ on african coast
capture- many enslaved africans were capured inland often through raid or war and marched to coast under brutal conditions
confinement - held in large holding pens often dark, filthy overcrowded and lacking ventilation
physical abuse- traders used violence to control/ intimiadte them eg whipping
seperation from community - seperated intentionally to prevent organised resistance
forced labour - forced to perform hard labour eg loading and unloading ships
effects on african societys
population loss
communties destroyed - abandoned / destroyed
more warfare- need of enslaved people increased wars and violent raids
cultural loss - traditions and knowlwedge lost
more european control
mistrust among people f
the ‘middle passage’
overcrowded- people chained together, little room to move
lack of air - lower decks had little fresh air, hard to breathe and extreme heat
unsanitary conditions - filthy, forced to lie in own waste as not allowed to move
poor quality food- fed little, food often old or spoilt making people sick
dehydration - water was limited, many suffered severe thirst
physical abuse -crew often beat and whipped enlsaved people to maintain control and out of cruelty
lack of resistance during middle passage
chained - chained together, restricted movement
surveillance - crew constantly watched enslaved people as they feared resisitance
severe punishments- those who resisted were brutally punished creating fear
exhaustion - harsh conditions, lack of food left many people to weak to resist
language barriers - came from different places, spoke differnet languages making ti difficult to communicate
fear of unknown- had no idea where they were being taken or what would happen
prepeartion for auction
fed more- improve temporary health
washed - scrubbed to make them look clean
oil - make skin appear healthier
shaving- appear younger and remove lice
concealing injuries - hide wounds from mistreatment
process of producing sugar
land had to be cleared- burning and clearing the grass
planting - rows of holes were dug and new canes planted
weeding- growing canes has to be weeded constantly
cutting- canes cut down by hand at harvest
crushed, boiled and distilled - turned to crude sugar
methods used to increase sugar production
used more manure to fertilise crops
developed advanced mills
used better types of sugarcanes
18th century production of sugar became increasingly mechanised, steam engine used to power sugar mill in 1768
irragation system built by french engineers
popularity of sugar in britain
availabilty- decreased cost more affordable
change in eating habits - jam, sweets, tea, coffee
coffee houses- consume goods containing sugar
sweetened tasteless foods - provided flavour
impact of the trade on the caribbean
damaged environment- large plantations destroyed natural beauty
economy - to reliant on production of sugar
racism - increase in racism
arawak population - destroyed, thrown of their land, european diseases like smallpox
farming- replaced small farms w large plantations
hostile- tensions between enslaved people and plantation owners close to rebellion
living and working condtions on plantations
poor quality housing - small cramped huts, offered little shelter, made from basic materials
field work - worked from early morning until sunset every day
boiling house- boiling sugar very dangerous, often injured
lack of medical care- owners provided enough medical care for enslaved people to keep working , high rate of illness and death
punishment - if not working fast enough often whipped
christianity - plantation owners would force enslaved people to convery to christianity
violent treatment on plantations
whipping
shackling
branding
mutilation
isolation
hanged
methods of resistance on plantations
working slowly - reduce how much they produces
breaking equpment - disrupt work
practicing culture - secretly singing, dancing and telling stories
escape - some ran away successfully and join maroon communities in the mountains
revolt - plan and lead revolts for freedome
murdering plantation owners
reasons why resistance was difficult on plantations
split families - owners threaten to split families up
punishments - scared of harsh punishments eg hanging
exhaustion - poor diet, no enerfy to fight
oppurtunities - watched closely by overseer, no oppurtunity
weapons- overseers had weapons, whearas equipment like scythes were closely monitored and hard to steal
working- enslaved people often moved jobs and ddint work with the same people to prevent organised rebelliions
reasons agaisnt the trade
moral beleifs - people valued that all people should have the right to life
religious beliefs - groups such as quakers beleived it was a sin to trade other humans
economic change- industrial chnage, trade of enlsaved africans became less profitable
wage labour - economist adam smith proposed wage labour was more profitable that enslaved labour
awareness- abolitionists worked hard to show the public how bad the trade was such as oladah equiano
political strategy - some wanted to weaken rival countires, thought ending the traqde in britain would make it harder for countires to profit from enslavement
