Africa and slavery 1500 - 1860

The Atlantic Slave Trade and Africa

By Steven Jewell

Although historians know that slavery existed in places on the African continent prior to the Atlantic Slave Trade, the ways in which African slavery compared to and interacted with the exportation of African slaves across the Atlantic remains a topic of much discussion and debate. The nature and extent of slavery in Africa before the Atlantic Slave Trade is difficult to know.

​Slavery Pre-Europeans

Many historians suggest that slavery was practiced in different areas in Africa, but was not the same as "chattel slavery" -seeing human beings as mere property-, which was practiced in the Americas. For example, slaves in some West African societies filled different positions in society, including positions of important responsibility; they were not restricted to hard labor. 

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Chattel Slavery

Multiple Choice

Chattel slavery means to

• see slaves as mere property

• see slaves as family members

• see slaves as equals

 It is not easily determined to what extent the Atlantic Slave Trade fueled and even transformed the practice of slavery within Africa. Certainly this varied from region to region, and there are many regions within Africa where slavery was not even practiced. However, there is no doubt that the Atlantic Slave Trade brought dramatic changes on a global scale throughout the African continent as well as the Americas.

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History of Slavery Still Being Debated

In The Beginning

 Europeans had become involved trade with African kingdoms and developed a strong demand for gold in their economy. However, Europeans were dependent on "middle-men" who would bring gold from the Kingdoms of West Africa across the Sahara Desert. In the 1400s, Prince Henry of Portugal began an initiative to seek out direct sea routes to gain access to the gold trade in West Africa, as well as trade in Asia.

Multiple Choice

What was Prince Henry seeking out?

• to prove the world was round

• Direct sea routes to the gold trade in africa

• a new world

• to see if the world was flat

The first slaves brought to Portugal came in 1444 from Northern Mauritania. From Mauritania, the Portuguese moved their way down the western coast of Africa, establishing contact all the way down to the Cape of Good Hope and around to the other side of Africa. Through these contacts, the Portuguese initiated trade relations that grew into the Atlantic Slave Trade.

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The First Slaves

Multiple Choice

The portugese established trading relations that grew into

• a regional trade network
• Atlantic slave trade

• a cultural exchange program
• a global empire

Portugal was the first of a number of European nations who became involved in the Atlantic Slave Trade. The Dutch, French, Spanish, and British soon followed in their footsteps.

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EUROPE FOLLOWED

Multiple Choice

What is the continent of Africa's most precious resource?

• Gold
• People

• Diamonds
• Oil

Fill in the Blank

What was one of the crops they needed labor (workers) for?

Multiple Choice

The first africans arrived in the america's in

• 1518

• 1808
• 1776
• 1492

Fill in the Blank

What was the Middle Passage?

It was the trip from ______ to ______.

Open Ended

Why did slavery increase warfare in africa?

Reorder

Reorder the following

• Quakers begin to condemn slavery

• France abolishes slavery after the French revolution

• British ended slave trade, then abolished owning slaves

• The US ended slavery after the civil war

1

2

3

4

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4

Multiple Choice

What did they make the male slaves do on the ships to give them exercise?

• They made the male slaves clean the decks.
• They made the male slaves dance or exercise.
• They made the male slaves cook meals.
• They made the male slaves sing songs.

Multiple Choice

What did Europeans/americans claim about africans to justify slavery even though it was at odds with the preaching of their primary religion.

• Slavery was promoted as a form of education.
• Africans were seen as equals in society.
• Africans were believed to be the rightful rulers of the land.
• Europeans/Americans claimed Africans were inferior and uncivilized to justify slavery.