1. Slavery in the colonies 7th grade Social Studies

2. Learning Targets How did slavery develop and affect colonial life? How was slavery in the Americas different from other forms of slavery? What was the lasting influence of slave codes?

3. Remember... Spanish settlers first brought Africans to the Americas as a source of slave labor. (Bartolome de las Casas)

4. Atlantic slave Trade * 1500-1800s – more than 10 million Africans transported to Americas *Spanish and Portuguese began slave trade, then joined British, Dutch, and French *Slave traders set up posts along the West African Coast and Africans who lived on the coast went into the interior to raid villages for captives to sell.

5. The Middle Passage Captives were traded for guns and other goods Loaded onto ships and transported across the Atlantic in a brutal voyage known as the Middle Passage Some ships crammed with as much “cargo” as possible to increase profits; other ships tried to provide better conditions to assure more captives survived healthy and worth more

6. Slavery in the Colonies In some societies, slaves were freed after a certain period of time, or if they became Christians. This was NOT true in the Americas, for the most part.

7. Slavery takes root Reasons why slavery became so popular: The plantation system and the profits to be made from tobacco and rice required many people to work in the fields. Slaves were preferable to indentured servants, which were temporary.

8. Enslaved Life In 1639 Maryland passed a law making slavery permanent and life-long. A 1633 Virginia law also stated children born to slaves would be slaves, too. There were a few early attempts to stop slavery, but because the plantations were making so much money, people began to accept that slavery wasn’t going away anytime soon. Slavery came to be restricted to those of African ancestry and was therefore linked to racism (what is racism?) Some colonists felt they were helping the Africans by introducing them to Christianity and European ways.

9. Resistance to slavery Due to the growing number of slaves, many whites became nervous and began establishing slave codes, or laws that heavily restricted the rights of slaves. Examples of slave codes: slaves couldn’t meet in large numbers, slaves could not own weapons, slaves could not leave a plantation without permission, it was ILLEGAL to teach slaves to read an write, masters who killed slaves COULD NOT be tried for murder Why was this done?- gave slave masters more control and made it harder for slaves to escape. Slave revolts continued despite the spread of slave codes.

10. african cultural influence in the colonies In the North- hired as blacksmiths and house servants; might work on small farms alongside owners; overtime, they MIGHT be able to buy their freedom In the South- on plantations, Africans saw few whites; kept many African traditions In the Middle Colonies- less isolated than in the South; rhythm from drums got into American music; banjo became part of American music