SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE TRADE full text

Between 1620 and 1820, millions of Africans were transported across the Atlantic and
sold into slavery in the Americas. Most of them worked on plantations or large farms,
especially in the south of the USA.

The British slave trade was known as the triangular trade because of the route it
took. Ships departed from British ports with goods such as guns and cloth. These
goods were exchanged with Africans chiefs for slaves. The slaves ships then carried
their cargo across the Atlantic to the Americas and the Caribbean. Here the traders
sold the slaves at auctions and, with the money, they bought sugar, tobacco, rum and
molasses. Finally, the ships returned to Britain carrying this cargo, which was sold at
huge profits. At the time of the Industrial Revolution, the profits of the slave trade
amounted to 5% of the British economy.

An estimated 12 million Africans were shipped to America from the 16 th to the 19th
centuries. Of these, about 645,000 were brought to what is now the USA. Slavery was
legal in all of the 13 colonies. Today African Americans are the descendants of these
slaves.

The voyage from Africa to the New World was a terrible experience for the captured
Africans and many died during the ocean crossing. After they arrived in America,
slaves were sold in public auctions. Families were often divided up and small children
were sometimes taken from their mothers and sold separately.

The life of a slave was terribly hard and many slaves died within a few years of arriving
in America. Most worked on large cotton plantations. They planted and picked the
crops and did other work on the farm. They worked without pay from early morning to
sunset, watched by a boss called overseer. House slaves looked after the masters
house and family. In many households, the treatment of slaves varied according to the
colour of the slaves skin. Darker-skinned slaves worked in the fields, while lighter-
skinned worked as house servant and had better clothing, better food and housing.

Slaves belonged to their owner and had no legal rights. They could not meet together
in public and could not travel without permission. It was also illegal to teach a slave
how to read or write. In 1808 the Congress outlawed the slave trade with Africa,
however, the system of slavery continued for more than 50 years. In 1863 Lincoln
issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves in the Confederate States in
the South and, two years later, the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution prohibited
slavery throughout the country. Even so, many states, especially in the South,
continued to discriminate against black Americans. The Civil Rights Movement in the
1960s helped eliminate segregation, strengthened Black Americans voting rights and
made job discrimination illegal. In 2008 the US House of Representatives passed a
resolution apologising for American slavery and subsequent discriminatory laws.
1) The British economy

a. Took advantages from the slave trade and gained profits

b. Lost a 5% of the profits

c. Experimented an increasing in guns and cloth importation

d. Didn't take any advantages from the slave trade

2) In the triangular trade

a. Great Britain sold sugar and tobacco rum and molasses to the African
chiefs

b. Great Britain imported sugar, tobacco, rum and molasses.

c. Great Britain bought sugar, tobacco, rum and molasses from the African
chiefs

d. Great Britain imported guns and cloth from Africa

3) Slaves were sold

a. At a fixed price

b. In public places

c. In auctions, to the best offerer

d. only to large cotton plantations owners

4) The 13th Amendment

a. Outlawed slavery all over the US territory

b. Allowed slavery in the Southern States only

c. Banned slavery in the Northern States only

d. Declared slavery unconstitutional only in the South states

5) The Civil Rights Movement

a. Fought to discriminate white people

b. Fought to eliminate segregation

c. Strengthen Black American discrimination

d. Didn't care about segregation

6) According to the colour of slaves skin

a. Darker-skinned slaves had better working conditions

b. Lighter-skinned slaves worked less hours

c. Working conditions were different

d. There weren't any differences in the slaves' treatment

1) During the 50s and the 60s the Civil Rights Movement fought for the right to
vote. Explain how Black People were prevented from voting in some Southern
states of the US

2) During the 20th century there were many different kinds of discrimination
against the African Americans. Segregated but equal was the motto that
allowed the application of the Jim Crow Laws: talk about them and describe how
black people were segregated in their daily lives.

3) From the beginning of the 20th century, African Americans became more and
more determined to express their own culture and identity as freed people. One
of the most important expression of the black culture was music and the Blues
genre. Explain where and how it was born and where and how it spread all over
the US

4) Tell about the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Explain why and how it started, which
was its goal, how long it lasted, how it ended.

5) Tell about the sit-in protest. Describe what kind of protest it was, explain what
the protesters asked for and how they acted

6) Tell about the Freedom Riders protest. Describe what kind of protest it was,
explain what the protesters asked for and how they acted.

7) Tell about the March On Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Tell when it
happened, who was the last speaker, what the speech was about and why that
speech is still so important today.