Slavery

Slave trade by the British  coastal forts in Africa  captured Africans until the arrival  from African chiefs -> goods from Europe  1stoften: captured soldiers from tribal wars  >demand slaves-> men => specialized in catching young Africans  VIDEO 1 !! Slave ships & slave markets  an estimated 15 million Africans -> Am.1540-1850.  to maximize profits slave merchants -> as many slaves as was physically possible on their ships  1788 The Brookes (maximum of 451 people) -> over 600 slaves from Africa  chained together by their hands & feet -> little room to move  PICTURE!!  only about ½ of the slaves taken from Africa -> effective workers  diseases  suicide by refusing to eat  were crippled for life -> way they were chained up on the ship  17th century slaves -> in Africa for about $25 -> in Am.$150  slave-trade - illegal -> prices much higher  death-rate: 50% -> still very good profits from the trade  slave markets -> plantation owners -> treatment as property  VIDEO 1 !! Plantation system  17th century Europeans -> settlements in A.  division of the land into smaller units under private ownership => plantation system  Plantation owners -> cheaper to buy slaves than to pay wages to workers. Cotton plantations  many early settlers in Am.

    -> cotton =intensive -> large nr. of slaves  in 1803 alone: over 20,000 slaves -> to Georgia and South Carolina (cotton fields)  1850 Am.: 3,000,000 bales of cotton & industry => vital element of the South\'s economy Rice plantations  => important crop in Am. during 18th century  In Carolina => farmer\'s main source of income  19th century => significant crop in Virginia & Georgia  intensive -> large nr. of slaves Sugar plantations  =intensive -> large nr. of slaves  industry ->rapidly ->1830 New Orleans => largest sugar refinery in the world with an annual capacity of 6,000 tons Tobacco plantation  = profitable export crop (popular in Europe ->tobacco-smoking and snuff-taking)  In Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina, vast areas -> given over to tobacco.

      slaves cultivate it  dry its leaves pack it to be transported to market Field slaves  sunrise -> sunset (men + women, also pregnant ones)  at harvest time -> eighteen hour day House slaves  had better food  sometimes given the family\'s cast-off clothing  not all slave-owners took this view:  One female slave reports that her mistress \"would station herself in the kitchen, and wait till it was dished, and then spit in all the kettles and pans\" to make sure that the slaves did not eat what was left over.  better living conditions  In some cases treated like slave-owners children => close bonds of affection & friendship  illegal: teaching by the women in the family.  Trusted house slaves (good service over a long period of time) -> sometimes promised their freedom when their master\'s died ( not always kept) Overseers  1860: 88% of Am. slave-owners: concentrated in the hands of around 1000 families  large landowners: well over 100 slaves  overseers to run their plantations  overseers = considerable pressure from the plantation owners => maximize profits (bullying slaves & punishment)  knew: ->blacks = unable to give evidence against white people in court  September,1844, the St. Louis Republican reported that a eight year old black girl had been whipped to death. However, the master of the girl was acquitted.

      Sometimes slave-owners -> mutilation & branding slaves  high mortality-rate amongst the slaves (4 years: 30%of slave population in Am.= dead) Punishment  main method used to control the behaviour of slaves = whipped  nr. of lashes -> the seriousness of the offence  putting them in a tobacco smoke-house & others cruel methods  some states => own slave codes (keep them under the tight control o their owners)  death-penalty -> murder, rape, burglary, arson and assault upon a white person  VIDEO 1 !!  Plantation owners: -> discipline => slaves too scared to rebel -> young slave  Am.  new name: Toby Family life  whites in Am.= complete freedom buying & selling slaves  State laws -> no legal protection to slave marriages (-> separation of whole families)  VIDEO 2 !!  32% of marriages ->dissolved by masters =>result of selling away from family home -> teenage Kissy Marriage & Child-bearing  Most slave-owners -> slaves marrying ( married men = less likely to be rebellious or to run away)  Child-bearing -> start : 13 years  Pregnant slaves: continuing until their child was born (1 month rest = recovery)  20 years: 4-5 children  sometimes promise of freedom -> 15 children  Young women => advertisement for sale as \"good breeding stock\" Childhood  carrying the child on the back while working in the fields  women (too old to work) ->care of the babies  5 years: -> carrying water to the slaves  6/7 years: -> working on the fields Education  early 19th's: no free public schools in the southern states of Am.  Some brave teachers -> secret night schools (->prison/execution!)  educated black children = running away  better situation in the North: 1st African Free School ->New York City 1787  teachers + students of these schools -> attempts & punishment Housing  accommodation -> wooden shacks with dirt floors  two slave families = one house (sometimes even without partitions)  Wooden floors = unknown luxury  In a single room -> 10-12 persons, men, women, and children  neither bedsteads, nor furniture of any description  beds = collections of straw and old rags  a single blanket = the only covering Food and clothes  monthly allowance of corn meal & salt-herrings  Sometimes -> small piece of land (->grow vegetables)  yearly clothing allowance  in the winter -> overcoat, a wool-hat once in two or three years, for the males, and a pair of very simple shoes Slave music  African culture  Attempts to stop slaves from continuing with African religious rituals  Drums = forbidden(slave owners feared: use = messages + signals for uprising)  singing while working => rhythmic accompaniment Freedom  always on the minds of the enslaved Africans  most common form of resistance = running away  primary issues: -where to hide -finding food -leaving the family  cruel punishment  escaped slaves -> in the woods or vast wilderness (undeveloped Am.

     countryside) => "Maroons" -> food: wild fruits & animals  Some -> into segments of the Native American populations  "Black Indians"  1860: about 490,000 free blacks -> discrimination Underground railroad  system  helping escaped slaves from the South  Opponents of slavery: their homes ="stations" -> food, shelter & money  1850: 3,000 people working on the U.R.  people: guiding slaves to safety in the north  Stations: 20 miles apart  Runaway slaves: hiding during the day + traveling at night  middle -19th century: >50,000 slaves from the South (underground railroad)  Plantation owners became concerned  Any person aiding a runaway slave (providing shelter, food or any other form of assistance) -> six months\' imprisonment & a $1,000 fine Black codes . robbed the Africans of their freedom & will power . strict & cruel punishment  disobeying masters . forbidden: - carrying guns - taking food -striking their masters - running away . breaking the slave codes: execution . Some slave states required: slaves + free blacks -> metal badges (with ID-Nr.) End of Slavery  Abolitionists -> movement -> north  abolishing 1865 by Lincoln VIDEO 3 !! Ku Klux Klan  = secret org. of white man (southern states)  violence blacks & whites (against slavery)  opposing social chance & equal rights -> blacks VIDEO 3 !!