Slavery Comes to the Americas

Slavery in the Ancient World

Slavery existed throughout the world since Ancient Times. It was a part of Ancient African kingdoms before the advent of the Europeans.

Yes, there were kingdoms in Ancient Africa!

Ghana, Mali, Songhay
(11th-15th c)

Timbuktu

And let's not forget Ancient Egypt!

However, slavery in Africa was different from the European slavery that was to come later.

How was it different?

• slaves could marry
• slaves could own property
• slaves could own other slaves
• slaves could marry non-slaves

Differences cont.

• African slaves worked on small plots of land, not large plantations
• African slavery was not based on race
• African slavery did not reduce slave to less than human status.

Factors that contributed to African slavery being brought to the Americas.

1. Religion: Many people believe that Africans were the descendants of Ham and were destined for slavery.

2. Slavery in Europe: 50 years before Columbus ten Africans were brought to Portugal as slaves.

3. Native Americans were rapidly dying from violence and disease.

4. Native Americans could run away because they knew the environment better than the Europeans.

5. Blacks were seen as physically stronger and suited to hard labor.

6. The Spanish had created large scale sugar plantations and gold mines that required a lot of labor.

This is how most people assume blacks were taken from Africa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6K_Q9kGo3c

Untitled Slide

There is a myth that Europeans came to the interior of Africa and kidnapped people.

However, this is inaccurate because Europeans were afraid to go into the interior of Africa because of malaria.

Instead African chiefs sold people to Europeans who stayed along the coast.

These people could be:

• slaves
• debtors (people who owed money)
• criminals
• prisoners of war

http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-atlantic-slave-trade-what-your-textbook-never...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znwRJ5K85XI

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