Dr.

Radica Mahase
In this section we will look at:

 The rationale/justification for the enslavement of

Africans

 The structure of the “triangular” trade

 How the enslaves were

obtained

 The journey to the coasts

 The slave forts

(barracoons)
 Introduction

Africans arrived in the Americas from the 16th

century
Unfree labourers
Main areas: Senegambia, Upper Guinea, Gold
Coast, Benin, West Central Africa
About 10 million Africans killed from time of
capture to time of arrival in Americas
11 million arrived in the Americas
Region Total # (M) Percentage

Brazil 4 35.4
Spanish Empire 2.5 22.1
British West Indies 2 17.7
French West Indies 1.6 14.1
United States 0.5 4.4
Dutch West Indies 0.5 4.4
Danish West Indies 0.28 0.2
 Economics : needed a labour force

• Africans already accustomed to climate, physical

labour

• They had knowledge of agriculture

• Were resistant to tropical diseases

• Slavery as a very profitable economic activity – large

companies were given royal contracts with
monopoly rights to trade in enslaved Africans
 Religious justification:

• Africans were not “native” subjects of the

Crown, were subjects of “ barbaric” and
“heathen” kings.
• Europeans would Christianized them
 Racial and ethnic prejudice:
• Africans considered a inferior by
Europeans
• They were different in physical
appearance, dressed differently,
possessed unfamiliar cultural
characteristics, were black-skinned and
were therefore a backward race.
Slaves obtained:

 Kidnapped

 Tribal wars

 Many Africans were sold by members of their own

tribes and neighboring tribes for ammunition and other
rare items.

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After capture the Africans were
bound and shackled and chained
together.

They were forced to move from the

interior to the coastal areas in a line.

Women and children were not

excluded from this manner of
restraint.

The length of the journey from

inland was on average 100 days long.
 On arrival at coast were kept in slave
houses until sufficient numbers ready for
shipping
 Slave houses were fortified (forts) –
withstand attacks by Africans, prevent
escape of slaves
 Men, women and children were kept in
separate rooms
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It consisted of three journeys:

1. The outward passage from Europe to

Africa carrying manufactured goods:

 Copper
 Manufactured cloth
 Silks imported from Asia
 Glassware
 Guns and Ammunition
 Pots
2.The MIDDLE PASSAGE from
Africa to the Americas or the
Caribbean:

Enslaved Africans
Commodities
such as Indigo
Two methods of packing were used, namely:

i. Loose packing-was preferred by those slavers

who felt that physical comfort would reduce
the number of deaths and instances of illness
on board.

i. Tight packing- based on the assumption that

slavers would lose 20 % of the numbers on
board.

Many contagious diseases affected the enslaved

Africans due to the tight packing and
unsanitary conditions.


The average length of the voyage to

the Caribbean from West Africa was
about 50 days.

Many Africans died in the crossing than

on the coast.

The number of deaths increased rapidly

after the first 8 weeks.
Outbreaks of yellow fever, scurvy,
dysentery, measles and small pox
were known killers.

Many diagnosed with any one of

these diseases were thrown
overboard for fear that they might
infect the others.
3. The homeward passage from the
Americas to Europe:

 Sugar
 Rum
 Rice
 Tobacco
 Cotton
 Coffee