SLAVERY CONTINUED

ReviewHow long has slavery been around for?

What do slaves look like? When did slavery start in Europe?

Why were people enslaved? How were slaves captured? How were slaves

transported? How were slaves treated?

Arriving in the Colonies Yesterday we discussed the capture and

transport of slaves. Today we will talk discuss what happened once they arrived in the Americas/Europe and the abolition movement.

Auction When slaves arrived at their destinations they

weren’t simply sold for set price. Rather, they were paraded in front of potential buyers and then bid upon like livestock.

Those who looked healthy and fit were sold for higher prices. Children who could be raised a certain way would also be sold for a higher price. Typically, men were purchased to collect resources (usually field work). Women were purchased to work in the home as servants. Depending on the slaves talents they may be placed elsewhere.

Female Slaves How do you think female slaves were

treated?

Female Slaves Female slaves were often abused by

their owners. Sexual abuse was not out of the question. Sometimes, as a result of rape, female slaves would bear children for their masters. These children were half black and half white and were referred to as “mulatto”.

How do you think these children were treated?

Mulatto The men who raped their female slaves often had wives. This means that when a

black slave had a mulatto baby the master’s wife could only assume her

husband had slept with the slave. Who do you think would receive blame for the

adultery? Would the husband be punished or the slave?

Often, the wives anger would be taken out on the slave and then on the child. While lighter slaves were often seen as

favorable (due to being more European); however, mixed slaves received just as

much abuse. The father of the mixed baby would

typically not care for the child. This meant that even though the slaver was a

father to the child, the child would continue to be raised as a slave.

Female Slaves Female slaves were not only useful to work in the house but also for breeding

purposes.

Slaves cost money. In order to save money you could force female slaves to

sleep with male slaves in order to produce children. This mean that the owners would not have to purchase additional slaves, saving themselves

money.

Auction Videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05jtVXAih-

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Do you think the slaves would be clothed? What were the men purchasing slaves looking for in men? What about

the women?

Abuse If slaves fought against their masters,

didn’t work fast enough, tried to run away, etc. they were punished.

Abuse came in many forms. The most common were the use of derogatory terms such as nigger, lashings, and death.

Escaped Slaves Advertisements

Abolition Not everyone thought of the slaves as lesser. Some people of European descent

began relationships with slaves; however, these relationships were to be kept secret as it was not acceptable to

“mix blood”.

Many people also fought for the rights of slaves, and eventually the freedom of

slaves.

Abolition Do you think those that fought against slavery were popular? Do you think they were called names or outcast by others?

Do we have similar issues today with things such as gay marriage? Women’s

rights? Etc.?

Late 1700’s In the late 1700’s antislavery

movements were at a high. British parliament even began looking into laws

that would ban slavery in the British Empire.

Sugar One major product that was produced

with the help of slave labour was sugar. People who did not agree with slavery began to boycott items that were produced by slave labour. In 1791, after British Parliament rejected the abolition of slavery, people began to boycott slave produced sugar.

What was a favorite drink of the British? Do you think it was easy for the British to give up sugar?

End of Slavery Over the 1700’s various restrictions on

slavery came into place. In late 1700’s the Northern USA was overtaken by abolition movements. Certain states

passed acts that restricted the enslavement of children born to slaves, and some rid of slavery all together. At the same time places in Canada began

placing restrictions on slavery.

End of the Slave Trade In 1807 the British Empire passed an act that

abolished the slave trade; however, slavery itself was not abolished.

1819 – Black residents of upper Canada were declared free.

1820 – Slavery prohibited in parts of Northern USA.

1834 – British abolish slavery throughout most of the Empire.

Freedom in the USA In 1863, President Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all

salve in the US except for those in states that were not under Confederate control. This meant that certain states

continued to have slavery. It wasn’t until after 1865, when the North US won the

civil war, that slavery was abolished across the USA. This means that slavery

existed 150 years ago.