Transatlantic Slave Trade

Find out more on this link:

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAslavery.htm

  Transatlantic Slave Trade: Quick facts

·1441 - The Portuguese begin the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

·1562 - Britain joins the Transatlantic Slave Trade and becomes the biggest transporter of slaves from the West African coast.

·Slaves are sold as chattels of their owners.

·Slaves have no rights to vote, enter any profession, hold public office, monies made from any enterprise belonged to their owner and could be taken off them if discovered.

·1730 - About 90% of Jamaica's population are of African origin.

·1780 - People begin to campaign against the slave trade.

·1807 - The British parliament abolishes slave trade.

·1833 - Britain abolishes slave trade in its colonies.

·1834 - Jamaica gains emancipation from slavery.

·1860 - With few resources; life has not improved for most of the ex- slaves, they rely on their passed down skills which their ancestors learned from Africa.

Transatlantic Slave Trade timeline

1441 AD Portuguese ships transport the first slaves from West Africa	1448 AD Portuguese set up the first slave trading post in Africa	1502 AD The Spanish transport the first African slaves  to American plantations	1562 AD John Hawkins becomes England first slave trader
1570s AD African slaves taken to Brazil by the Portuguese	1683 AD Most indigenous Caribbean have been wiped out	1780s AD People begin to campaign against the slave trade	1791 AD Slaves in Haiti revolt and defeat British and Spanish armies
1807 AD Britain abolishes the slave trade	1833 AD Slave trade abolished in British colonies	1861 AD Slave trade abolished in America	1876 AD The rest of Europe abolish slave trade

Kidnapped

A song of lamentation

Come quickly back home, your mother is waiting; I your sister I'm waiting, your meal is getting cold. Fear is driving us cold, no one is going to eat; no one is taking your seat, until you come back home and never again, leave home.

 

Task: Make up a tune for this song.

Who do you think is singing this song and why?

Do you think this child ever returned home?

What damage do you think was done to this family as a result of losing their beloved child?

 A song of lamentation

A kidnapped child suffered one of four fates

·Taken on a Trans- Saharan route to North Africa to be sold in the slave market bound for the Mediterranean

· Taken to other parts of Africa to be used as domestic slave

·Taken to other parts of Africa to be employed on the land

·Taken to West African Trading posts to be sold to European Slave Traders bound for the West Indies, America or Brazil

Task: Imagine being separated from your family in a strange land. You have five minutes to write down as many feeling words as you can think of.

Kidnapped

The Journey 

I was blind folded for most of the way

We walked all day and all night for three days.

We walked through the woods during the day and kept to the paths at night.

When I was too tired to walk, my captor carried me on his back.

When we arrived at the house, I dropped to the ground from exhaustion and was relieved temporarily from my anguish by sleep.

I was sold the next morning to a new master.

This child had only gone to check his rabbit trap, when he was pushed to the ground, his mouth gagged and a sack put over his head.

He had become a slave boy.

 Questions:

Why do you think the kidnapped was blindfolded?

Why do you think they walked all day and all night?

Why do you think the captor was in a hurry?

Why do you think they walked through the woods during the

day and kept to the paths at night?

How much do you think the kidnapped child was sold for?

 

Activity: You are the kidnapped. Write down all the things you are worried about.

Kidnapped

Kidnapped Sold into Slavery

Once captured for slavery, the Slave could change hands several times, with each new master selling them on for a higher price. The main currency was the cowrie shells, a slave could be bought for as little as 50 cowrie shells, this rising at each new sale point reaching about 175 at the last point before reaching European Trading posts. The Europeans exchanged them for gifts of firearms, gunpowder, cutlasses, crossbows, gin, spice and luxury products like beads and woven cloth.

Slave Life - scenario 1

Kidnapped Scenario one

Taken on a Trans- Saharan route to North Africa to be sold in the slave market bound for the Mediterranean

These slaves ended up as:

·domestic servants

·sugar cane plantation workers.

Slave Life - Scenario 2

Taken to other parts of Africa to be used as domestic slaves.

 

These slaves ended up as part of the household in which they served. They were never maltreated but fortunes depended on:

·how rich the mistress or master was

·religious and traditional beliefs of owner; all religions and traditions forbid the maltreatment of slaves who are considered as fellow human beings

·some traditions have specific male roles which include being leader of the household; therefore all free born male will be entitled to eat first before a slave is given his or her share

All slaves had right to marry free born members of the household or the community.

All slaves had right to own their own property.