Transatlantic Slave Trade Flashcards
(20 cards)
What was slavery like in the Mediterranean?
- Prisoners of War
- ‘Slave’ -> ‘Slav’ - Eastern Europeans enslaved by Spanish
- Employed in armies, offices, and domestically
- ‘Serfs’ in Russia have no rights
What was slavery like in Greece?
- Prisoners of War or members of their own
- Women - domestic, Men - labour
- Men had more chance of freedom
- Brutal Treatment
- 5th Century Athens had more enslaved people then free people
What was slavery like in Portugal?
- Used ships for trading posts - enslaved more
- Men and women from tribes - agriculture/factories
- Start of Slaver’s Coast (people travelling to Africa to enslave them)
What was slavery like in Rome?
- Women had domestic jobs + worked farms
- Men worked on mines, agriculturally, or managorially
What was slavery like in Egypt
- Jews, Ethiopians, Europeans
- Agricultural + domestic work
- Could work their way to freedom
What was the triangular trade?
- British sailors traded with West Africans for guns, cloth and alcohol
- These slaves were taken across the Atlantic (middle way) to the Americas and the Carribean, where British enslavers bought them
- These slaves worked on the plantations, where they harvested various items
- These items, cotton, sugar and coffee were taken back to Britain to be sold for profit
Why did the Slave Trade happen?
- People wanted cheap labour to work on the early settlements in the Americas
- They could be sold or traded for profit
Which country was the most involved in the Slave Trade?
Portugal
How did the dominant slave-trading country change over time?
At first it was Portugal and Brazil, then it became Britain (they banned slave trading ships going anymore) so it became Brazil again
How did the amount of people who got on the ships in Africa change when the boat arrived in the Americas?
The amount decreased, because many people died on the journey from causes such as sickness and punishment
Describe the majority of the enslaved people being brought over from West Africa in terms of age and gender
Most people were men because they were more ‘capable’, and about 20% of the enslaved people were children
How long did the journey across the Middle Way take?
On average, 70 days, but ranged from about 20 to 100, fluctuating because of reasons such as weather
What were the conditions on the ship like for the enslaved people?
- Would get severely beaten (to death sometimes)
- Packed into 5ft 6in by 16in, packed with bodies
- Were fed yams and beans twice a day
What were rebellions and punishments like on a plantation?
- If they didn’t pick enough cotton they were beaten
- Beaten and whipped
- Rebellions crushed, several people hung as warning to others
What was work like on a plantation?
- They had to pick 91kg cotton/day
- Women weren’t allowed to look after their own kids
- Elderly slaves looked after younger slaves
- Domestic jobs were very lucky
What were food and clothing like on the plantations?
- Basic food, 1-2 meals a day
- New clothes once a year
- Some people worked naked or in rags
What was housing like on the plantations?
- Slaves lived in ‘Slave Row’, poorly built houses (no floor or windows)
- Plantation owners lived fancily in ‘Big House’
What are examples of useful resources to get evidence?
- autobiographies
- biographies
- newspaper reports
- Records (censuses)
- Books
- Photographs
- Drawings
- Maps
Who was George Taylor, and what did he do?
- George Taylor (1736-1814)
- Born into a family who relied on the Slave Trade
- Owned land on St Kitts and Nevis
- Used slaves to work his land
- Records show he bought 53 slaves for £2500 (£212000 today) in 1764
- 1782 he bought Carshalton park for £14000
- Had black butler called Samuel Mudian
- Myth passed down that wealth would only last 3 gens because of involvement with Slave Trade
- Final register of slaves on St Kitts 1834, 156 slaves
- After Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, St Kitts was compensated £2756 (£136394 today) for freed slaves
Who was Samuel Mudian?
- Butler for Taylor family
- May have previously been Samuel the Bermudian
- May have been George Taylors son
- 1807, he married Judith Bluton (white woman)
- In George Taylor’s will, he left him £50
- A year after George Taylors death they moved to Wallington
- Died in 1841, Judith moved to Hastings to live with her sister, Maria
