The Geography of Slavery

Exploring the Effects of Geography

on Patterns of African Slavery and Slave Trade

Utah Geographic Alliance Spring ConferenceMarch 13, 2009Jeffery D Nokes PhDBrigham Young Universityjeff_nokes@byu.edu

Why were Africans brought as slaves by Europeans to the

Americas?

• Why not Europeans brought as slaves by Asians to Australia, for example?

Reason 1: Because they could

• Some regions geographically blessed– Wild species suitable

for agriculture– Ease of spreading

agriculture

• Inequalities among societies– Some get guns,

germs, and steel

Wild species suitable for agriculture

• Sheep• Goat• Cow• Pig• Horse• Arabian Camel• Bactrian Camel• Llama/alpaca• Donkey• Reindeer• Water Buffalo• Yak• Bali Cattle• Mithan

Where did these animals’ wild ancestors originate?

Why didn’t Sub-Saharan Africans domesticate their

native animals?• Constraints on

domestication:– diet– growth rate– captive breeding– nasty disposition– tendency to panic– social structure

• Of 148 candidates only 14 meet all requirements

Spread of Agriculture

Spread of Agriculture

Reason 1: Because they could

• Inequalities among societies– Some get guns,

germs, and steel

Why were Africans brought as slaves by Europeans to the

Americas?

• What motivated people from one region to force the migration of millions from another region into a third region?

Reason 2: Because it was profitable

• Plantation system to produce cash crops– Sugar– Tobacco– Cotton

• Plantation needs– Land– Labor

American Plantations

• Portuguese plantations in Brazil (Engenho)– Agriculture– Industrial– Slaves imported in

1530s– High death rates of

slaves (5-10% annually)

• French Haiti• Spanish Caribbean and

Mexico• English North America

Reason 2: It was profitable

13

The Atlantic Slave Trade•Where to?

5%

60%

35%

65%

30%5%

Where from?

Triangular trade and the movement of people and goods

15

Triangle TradeNorth America

The Carribean Africa

Molasses Rum, weapons

Slaves

16

Number of people enslaved•30 million taken from their homes

•10 million die during capture phase

•10 million die during middle passage

•10 million survive to make it over the ocean

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Capture Phase

•Tribes often did not have a choice in helping capture neighbors “divide and conquer”

•Most captured 50-100 miles inland

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West African expectations about slavery

•A slave’s child would not be a slave

•Slaves were not slaves for life

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Phases of the Slave Trade•Capture:

Christiansborg Castle, Gold Coast, ca. 1750 Cape Coast Castle, Gold Coast, 1727

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The Middle Passage•Journey over the Atlantic Ocean•400-500 people in a boat with little air & much disease

Why were Africans brought as slaves by Europeans to the

Americas?

• Why not just use the people who were already there?

Reason 3: Because Native Americans weren’t as profitable

slaves• Native Americans

have no immunity to European diseases– 50-90% died– Taino extinct

• Nomadic Native Brazilians migrated into interior

Why didn’t Europeans die from Native American diseases?

• Geographic influences on disease– Animal domestication– Population density– Movement of people and

goods (the plagues of the Middle Ages)

– Geographic proximity/isolation

• Native Americans were relatively disease free

Why were Africans brought as slaves by Europeans to the

Americas?

• Why not create the plantations in Africa?

Reason 4: Tropical Africa was too difficult to colonize

• Malaria• Less arable land• African resistance

to European diseases

• European colonies restricted to coastal areas until Industrial Revolution

Reason 4: Tropical Africa was too difficult to colonize

European Influence on the Interior of Africa

Why were Africans brought as slaves by Europeans to the

Americas?• Geography advantaged Europeans over Africans

and Native Americans– Agriculture– Technology

• Geography created an economic opportunity• Geography eliminated Native Americans as a slave

force • Geography promoted Africans as a viable slave

force• Geography eliminated Africa as a viable location

for plantations

The impact of the slave trade on world geography

today• Caribbean culture• Brazilian culture• North American

culture

The impact of the slave trade on world geography

today• Challenges facing

African nations and cultures today– poverty– illiteracy– ethnic conflict

Sources• Guns, Germs, Steel:

http://science.csumb.edu/~hkibak/200/

• Sheep: http://www.realclimate.org/images/Sheep.jpg

• Chart: http://roboconsumer.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/guns_germs_steel.png?w=499&h=485

• African school: http://www.fao.org/sd/erp/img/school-africa.jpg

• Farming: http://skyeome.net/BenderdeMoll01/thesisImages/Cavalli.JPG

• World map: http://www.wall-maps.com/World/NGPhysicalWorld-over-f.htm

• Smallpox: http://www.rense.com/1.imagesH/smallpox.jpg

Sources• Triangular trade:

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/Anthro/Anth234/triangle.jpg

• Africa: http://www.mara.org.za/images/picdistr.gif

• Zebras: http://www.outdoorphoto.co.za/cms/files/odp/imagecache/full/files/odp/Zebra%20fight.jpg

• Africa old: http://www.maps-charts.com/images/800.25%20Afrique%20-%201669%20-%20Sanson.jpg

• Slave graph: http://web000.greece.k12.ny.us/SocialStudiesResources/GlobalHistoryandGeographyResources.htm

• Slave trade: http://xenohistorian.faithweb.com/africa/slaves.JPG

• Middle passage: http://faculty.lacitycollege.edu/moonmc/html/slavepic2.html

• Haiti: http://www.greaterworksoutreach.org/pictures/Haiti.jpg