1. Introduction to Slavery

2. Goals: 5.2: Trace the development and causes/effects of slavery in Africa Students will understand: vocabulary about slavery basic economics of slavery why the need for slaves in the Americas existed and where those slaves came from and why effects of slavery in Africa

3. Discuss with your partner: Write down everything you know or think about when you think about the words ‘slave’ or ‘slavery’

4. Remember: The peoples of West Africa had a rich and varied history and culture long before European slavers arrived. They had a wide variety of political arrangements including kingdoms, city-states and other organizations, each with their own languages and culture. Art, learning and technology flourished and Africans were especially skilled in subjects like medicine, mathematics and astronomy. As well as domestic goods, they made fine luxury items in bronze, ivory, gold and terracotta for both local use and trade. West Africans had traded with Europeans through merchants in North Africa for centuries. The first traders to sail down the West African coast were the Portuguese in the 15th century. Later the Dutch, British, French and Scandinavians followed. They were mainly interested in precious items such as gold, ivory and spices, particularly pepper.

5. Africa was a center of learning, trade, art, architecture and technology.

6. Our new unit is called ‘Colonialism and Slavery.’ Create a new folder in your ‘Social Studies’ folder for this unit. Create a new glossary. Put these terms in your glossary: Enslavement: The action of making someone a slave Slave: A person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them. Human trafficking: The illegal trade of people for purposes of labor or other types of exploitation (for example, prostitution) Abolition: The action of ending a practice or institution, such as slavery Abolitionist: A person who favors the end of a practice or institution, such as slavery

7. History of Slavery: The history of slavery spans from ancient history (records date from 1760 BCE) to today. Slavery has occurred or occurs in most parts of the world. Slaves are considered the legal property of their owner and a slave forced to obey his/her owner. Slaves are made to work without choice or pay and can be bought or sold. While slavery has existed for thousands of years, the social, economic, and legal position of slaves was vastly different in different systems of slavery in different times and places. Although slavery is no longer legal in the world today, human trafficking remains a big problem. It is estimated that roughly 30 million people live in illegal slavery today.

8. Discuss with your partner: Why does slavery exist?

9. Economics! Usually slavery exists in places where there is a shortage of workers. Think about supply and demand…if demand for workers is high, but supply is low…then you might see slavery occur.

10. ‘ New World’ Colonies: Put these terms in your glossary: Colony: A country or area under the full or partial political control of another country and occupied by settlers from that country. Colonist: Someone who lives is a colony. Europeans were discovering ‘new lands’ in the Americas (Age of Exploration) and establishing new colonies. They wanted to grow crops. There were not enough Europeans to work the land. So at first they made the native peoples slaves, but many of them died due to disease, committed suicide or could not/would not do the work required. So a new labor source was needed…where did Europeans turn to for labor????

11. Africa. But why did Europeans choose to enslave Africans? Technology to send boats to Africa and build harbors for the boats Slavery existed in Africa (Africans often enslaved those captured in war) so a market already existed on the west coast Ability to easily sail from Africa to the Americas Africans had some resistance to tropical diseases. Africans were often skilled (came from advanced civilizations remember) Europeans did not understand African societies and thought of Africans as uncivilized

12. Slave Trade in Africa: Between about 1500 and 1900 between 8 to 20 million Africans were forcibly removed from their homes and enslaved. European traders captured some Africans in raids along the coast, but bought most of them from local African or African-European dealers. These dealers had a sophisticated network of trading alliances collecting groups of people together for sale. Most of the Africans who were enslaved were captured in battles or were kidnapped. As demand for slaves grew, traders would travel further to kidnap people to sell. Slaves were typically captured inland, then brought to a fort or prison on a difficult journey that could last weeks– many captives did not even make it to the coast. Once there, the slaves would wait, often for a long period of time (sometimes months), until a ship arrived.

13. Slave Trading: When the slave ships arrived from Europe they were full of goods made in Europe. Captains offered gifts to local African leaders and paid taxes for the right to trade. They then began negotiations to buy slaves, offering a wide variety of goods such as textiles, firearms, alcohol, and beads unavailable in Africa. Detail of a headdress made of cowrie shells, which were used as currency View of cells used to hold slaves at coastal forts

14. Who Were the Slave Traders?? The main European nations involved in slaving were Portugal, Spain, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden. Britain began large-scale slaving through private trading companies in the 1640s. The number of voyages to Africa made between 1695 and 1807 from each of the main European ports that were involved in the slave trade were: Liverpool: 5,300 London: 3,100 Bristol: 2,200 Other European ports: 450