AP Chapter 4Slavery and the Empire

The African Slave Trade10-12 million slaves were

brought to the Americas with 67% coming between 1701-1810

Men outnumbered the women 2 to 1 and most were field workers

The Middle PassageMiddle Passage- name given

to the middle part of the trading triangle from England to Africa to America and back to England

Conditions on the ship were brutal

Middle Passage

Triangular Trade

Effects on AfricaThose taken captive were the

strongest members of their tribe which weakened Africa

African kingdoms fought each other for slaves

West African economy grew weakerDemoralized Africans and led

Europeans to conquer the continent in the 1800s

Slavery in North AmericaFirst slaves arrived in Virginia

around 1619As the need for slavery rose so

did the slave populationEnglish law had no precedent

for allowing slavery but as slavery grew laws were created

Expansion of tobacco production relied on the size of the slave labor force

Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina (Upper South) needed slaves for the tobacco fields

S. Carolina was a slave state from the beginning

Slavery was accepted in the North as an American institution

Northern states were not considered slave states but slavery was an important form of labor

Slavery made up the majority of the workforce on the plantations in the South

Slave Codes- laws primarily in the South that defended slavery and denied basic civil rights to them

Most slaves were not converted to Christianity until the Great Awakening that swept the South in the 1760s

Music and dance formed the foundation of African American culture before a common language

Politics of MercantilismMercantilism- economic system

were the govt. intervenes in the economy for the purpose of increasing national wealth

Mercantilists policies controlled the trading networks and was successfully used by the British

Govt. regulated wages, encouraged agriculture and manufacturing, and erected trade barriers.

England tried to control as much as they could to maximize profits

Mercantilist era led to intense and violent competition among Europeans for colonies

Queen Anne’s War and King George’s War- war between England and France over succession of the Spanish and Austrian thrones respectively

Some of the wars were fought in N. America and included N. American tribes

Wars were a sign of things to come

British Colonial RegulationsNavigation Acts- created a legal and

institutional structure for Britain's colonial system

Acts said the colonies were providers of raw materials and markets for manufactured goods

Banned trading of merchants from other nations in the colonies and all goods must be shipped on British vessels

Colonial EconomyDespite the harsh mercantilist

regulations the economy benefited planters, merchants and whites

Southern slave owners made huge profits

Enumerated Goods- items produced in the colonies that could be shipped to specific locations with Parliaments approval

ConclusionSlavery was used to provide a

reliable supply of labor for the British colonies

Slavery had a negative social and economic impact on Africa

Mercantilist policies controlled the economy of early colonial America