Transatlantic Slave Trade (dec 23, 1518 – dec 23, 1850)

Description:

Slavery did not begin as a race-based institution
- develops along racial grounds in Spanish & Portuguese colonies
- eventually spreads to French, Dutch, & English

Transatlantic Slave Trade:
1. Existed within Africa before the coming of the Europeans
2. Portuguese replaced European slaves with Africans (used for sugar cane plantations)- 60% of African slaves went to the Carribean because that is where most of the sugar can plantations were
3. 10-12 million Africans shipped to the Americas over the 3 centuries

Middle Passage: leg of the Triangle Trade that brought human cargo from Africa to the Americas
- slave ships had no masts
- tight packing (head to toe)- even if some were lost to disease, there would still be enough left for profit
- sick/dead African captives were thrown overboard- sharks followed the slave ships because it was a steady source of food
- men made up vast majority
- the few women were kept separate and used for sexual assault
- many Africans refused to eat- thought death was better than dealing with conditions that they went through

Why Africans:
- needed labor to work new lands in colonies
- indentured servant population falls (poor Europeans commit to labor in return for a free trip to the New World)
- had already been exposed to European diseases (would be immune unlike the natives)
- had experience farming
- could not escape because they were unfamiliar with the new land and had no way to cross the ocean and go back home

Africa:
- slave trade always had existed (pre-Europe)
- Africans traded humans for guns & alcohol from Europe
- Africans used trade to get rid of their enemies (rival tribes) that they held as prisoners
- demographic consequences: most slaves were men- leaving many more women than men in the continent

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