prelim

• What did they trade from Britain to Africa


  Textilles, manufactured goods (guns) and rum to trade for slaves
• What did they trade from Africa to the West Indies


  Slaves to the America's
• What did they trade from the West Indies (americas) to Britain


  Sugar, tobacco, cotton to Europe
• What type of people were chosen to be taken into slavery

  Only healthy males and females
• How many days did it take to reach west Africa from Liverpool


  43 days
• How many days did it take to get from Africa to the West Indies


  7-8 weeks
• How long did the trade carry on for

  1770-1807
• What did glasgow trade with eurpoe

  Tobacco (Glasgow was known as the tobacco lords)
• How much money did Liverpool make a year from the trade

  £300,000
• What ship carried 412 slaves across the Atlantic in 1803


  The Atlantic
• How many ships were British, Dutch, french, Portuguese and danish


  British- 38,000

  Dutch - 4,000

  French - 20,000

  Portuguese- 10,000

  Danish - 2,000
• How were slaves captured


  - traded with African tribal leaders

  - chiefs sold members of their own tribes as actions of punishment

  - prisoners of war from other tribes were traded

  - slave hunters would travel to the coastline kidnapping individuals or groups (resulted to tribes moving in land to stay safe)

  - they would be ambushed when they were in isolated areas or playing with children

  - tribal chiefs needed more people to sell to the Europeans so they raided neighbouring tribal lands and started wars with rival tribes
• Was was the journey to the west coast like


  - if people were too sick or old they would be killed so they could walk faster (over half died on the journey)

  - forced to walk 8 miles a day, 20 miles in total

  - connected to other slaves by iron rings (on ankles or neck)

  - hot weather with little food and water
• What were the effects it had on Africa/society

  - depopulation (decreased about 12 million due to moved by force to the West Indies, population estimated to be double now if no slave trade)

  - movement (coastal tribes forced to move from homes due to conflict)

  - loss of young men (caused lack of farming)

  - tribal wars (encouraged war between tribes)

  - fear (lived in fear of being taken into slavery)

  - tribal chiefs ( became very wealthy from trades)

  - violence (introduction to guns made society more dangerous especially for tribes)

  - landscape (west coast was built on for factories for Africans to be treated badly before going to the West Indies)

  - propaganda (racist ideas have made Africans out to be inferior for centuries)
• What was the experience of slaves in slave factories on the African coast


  - fed little amounts of food to keep them docile

  - enslaved Africans would be separated by gender in factories

  - enslaved people were passed as fit were branded on the chest with a hot iron to stop the African traders from switching bought slaves for unfit ones

  - enslaved women suffered sexual exploitation

  - enslaved people would be whipped for anything they did wrong

  - enslaved people were put in punishment cells for rebelling

  - enslaved people were often shackled whilst in the slave factories
• What was loose pack


  This method gave slaves more room to lie, meaning fewer slaves died therefore less money was lost (male slaves would still be chained)
• What was tight pack


  Each male slave chained hand and foot to another slave and packed like sardines (16-18 inches to lie in, like a coffin). These ships were not designed for humans
• What were the middle passage conditions like


  - over 30 degrees

  - slave deck smelt like urine, excrement and vomit (you could tell a slave ship was coming a few days before arrival due to the smell)

  - no toilets or washing rooms

  - no ventilation causing seasickness and diseases

  - the heat and foul air was so bad that a candle would not burn below deck

  - there was no thought for their human rights
• What was the treatment from the crew like on the middle passage


  - brought up to deck each morning and forced to dance as exercise while being whipped during the entertainment

  - chained to stop them from jumping overboard

  - they were washed and scrubbed with warm vinegar once a day

  - fed twice a day with foods they weren't familiar with like porridge so it was just enough to keep them alive

  - if they refused to eat they would be force fed or teeth would be knocked out

  - women and children had separate quarters to men with also being out at risk of sexual violence and abuse
• What were the methods of resistance on the middle passage


  - refusing to eat

  - plotting to revolt

  - taking control of the ship

  - jumping overboard

  - there was a high risk because they knew what the crew were capable of doing

  - if slaves tried to rebel against crew, the crew could easily take action as they had access to the weapons on board

  - slaves would attempt to cut loose from the chains with things like knives, stones and cold chisels as well as using them as a defending mechanism

  - slaves would take action towards the leaders by whipping them (took the crews weapons) with sharp blade objects
• Why was it difficult to rebel


  - crew were well armed

  - slaves were in weak condition

  - they didn't know where they were

  - they didn't have experience of ships
• What were slave auctions like


  - slaves were inspected ( mouths forced open to see their capacity)

  - they would use palm oil to make slaves look better and to cover up sores and bruises from whips or a plug of tar was inserted to hide signs of dysentery

  - women were priced based on how many years they had left of fertility

  - they would be touched

  - families were split up

  - children $500

  - women $800

  - men (price rose with age with 25-30 at their highest) $1000
• What was a scramble auction


  When the doors of an auction room would be opened an bidders would run and grab any slave they could
• Describe the overseer (white) (3)


  - managed the slaves to make sure they produced profitable crops

  - they pushed the slaves just enough without overworking them (e.g. content enough not to revolt)

  - typically a young white man with good knowledge of the crops and they would over watch the slaves normally on a horse carrying a whip
• Describe slave drivers (black) (3)


  - trusted slaves who had been promoted to serve under the white overseers to supervise the slaves at work

  - they had allocated tasks to the field slaves and ensured that the slaves were working as hard as possible

  - they had the job to punish those who were thought to not be working as hard as possible
• Describe sugar factory slaves (3)


  - they had to wash, chop, crush and squeeze the juice from the sugar cane in order to be sold

  - sugar was placed in large vats which didn't have lids so the heat inside was so intense slaves could only work 4 hours at a time

  - the bluing hot liquid was stirred by hand which was very dangerous and led to extreme and horrendous burns
• Describe domestic servants /house slaves (6)


  - slave who normally lived in the plantation owners 'great house'

  - job for the lighter- skinned slaves

  - men often worked as butlers and tended to the owners possessions (e.g. the horse and cart), women had the duties such as cooking, cleaning, serving meals, getting the family dressed and caring for the children

  - they were usually treated better with better food and better housing conditions

  - worked 6 days a week, usually 18 hours a day

  - slaves were vulnerable to the masters moods and women often suffered terrible sexual violence
• Describe field hands (4)


  - 75% of all slaves were purchased to work in the fields e.g. rice, cotton, sugar and tobacco fields

  - work was very labour intensive and slaves were required to dig, weed, plant and manure the sugar canes

  - they work 16-18 hours a day (sunrise -> sunset) 6 days a week in the hot sun

  - in harvest time, slaves often worked so hard to the point where many slaves fell ill through being overworked
• Describe the punishments on plantations

  - death -> using a gibbet to kill slowly, broken on a wheel where bones were dislocated, thirst in a hanging cage, wounds from shotguns

  - emotional -> grief of losing a loved one (depression), threat of sale, fear of being sold to relatives

  - high level physical -> mutilation, castration, maiming (removing limbs)

  - low level physical -> branded (sometimes on face), ears nailed to a post, thumbscrews, salt or lime rubbed into wounds created by whipping, whipping/flogging (amount depended on what they had done)

  - made life more difficult-> chained/ shackled to others, iron muzzles, food reduction, halters around neck
• What were the living conditions on plantations like (5)


  - most slaves lived in small wooden huts and slept on straw beds

  - they were encouraged to grow their own crops but in times of famine they went hungry

  - plantation owners converted their slaves to Christianity and allowed them to attend church on sundays

  - slaves were discouraged from contributing traditional African culture/practices

  - they were not allowed to speak in their own language or learn to read and write
• What were the methods of plantation resistance


  - active - poisoning the master, arson (set fire to slave owners house), rebelling and taking weapons to fight slave owners, running away

  - passive - working slowly, breaking tools, slave women taunting the overseer or slave owners, injuring plantation animals, singing slave songs, pretending to be mad
• Why was resistance so difficult (9)


  - harsh punishments (e.g. whipping) meant slaves were too scared to resist

  - slaves were scared in case they were sold off away from their families

  - slaves were branded which made them very easy to spot and they would be recaptured quickly

  - large rewards were given to the capture of runaways which deterred escapes

  - slave owners were very well armed and were able to put down any attempts of resistance

  - slaves were not given much free time so it was difficult to organise rebellions

  - slaves were in weak conditions

  - the islands of the West Indies are very small

  - slaves often spoke different languages to each other and did not have a leader so it was difficult to organise
• What were the effects of the slave trade on the caribbean (7)


  - slave trade introduced racism

  - constant fear of violent rebellions made Caribbean more unstable and volatile

  - natural beauty of landscapes was destroyed by growth of plantations

  - native people caught European diseases (e.g. smallpox) which they had no immunity to

  - native people killed in conflict

  - population of black people increase from 3% in 1629 to 90% in 1800

  - Caribbean produced 90% of European sugar requirements (sugar grown as a cash crop (grown for profit rather than as a food source)) which destroyed its economy
• What were the effects of the slave trade on Britain (8)


  - employment was created from the trade (e.g. sailors, copper smelting and ship building)

  - merchants built extravagant homes from their profits from finance

  - it was used to finance the industrial revolution by paying for new factories, mills equipment etc.

  - cities such as Glasgow benefitted from the increase in tobacco trade

  - important government buildings were constructed from the profits

  - slave cotton provided work for the mills in Lancashire

  - banks and insurance businesses grew (e.g. Lloyds of London and Barclays)

  - increased the access to luxury products such as sugar and coffee
• Who were famous abolitionist's who helped abolish the slave trade

  - William wilberforce - introduced the bill to abolish the trade every year for 18 years before it was passed in 1807 by the House of Commons which put pressure on MP's, he had the support from important politicians during the campaign

  - Thomas clarkson - collected evidence of the trade which horrified people (e.g. thumbscrews and the brookes ship diagram)

  - John Newton - was an important evangelical Christian wrote a book describing the horrors of the slave trade from his point of view as an eye witness which shocked the public and increased support

  - Equiano - wrote an autobiography showed the slave trade from a witnesses point of view
• What were the reasons for the abolition of the slave trade


  - financial - became less profitable as source became available elsewhere (e.g. sugar in India), Britain underwent the industrial revolution and made most of its money from manufacturing goods

  - public opinion - swung in favour of the abolitionists cause, many Christians argued the moral wrongs of the trade, people were increasingly starting to consider human rights (Africans were starting to be seen as human beings)

  - public campaigns - slogans such as 'am I not a man and a brother' such as wedgewood crockery were used to publicise the abolitionist method, petitions were sent to parliament highlighting the support from the public against the slave trade, boycotts of slave produced sugar took place which led to a fall in demand for sugar
• What were the push factors for Scottish emigration (9)


  - people were being replaced with machinery so they couldn't work

  - the lack of opportunity

  - low grain prices, high rents and wet weather leading to farmers deciding to cut their losses

  - the highland clearances

  - fishing depression

  - agricultural depression

  - language barriers

  - farming changes

  - a division between farmers and labourers because of low wages and opportunities
• What were the pull factors for Scottish emigration (12)


  - higher wages (countries needed farmers so offered high wages to attract)

  - better living conditions (better housing as they could build their own house & good infrastructure )

  - friends and family (sent letters explaining what life was like)

  - better government

  - adverts about advantages of moving

  - better farming land (free & cheap land)

  - support from landowners (British & colonial)

  - emigration societies

  - easier to travel with new inventions (e.g. the steamboat and train networks)

  - population inbalances

  - job opportunities (professional workers were required & recruited)

  - gold (gold was found in Australia in 1851 so 90,000 people left Scotland)
• what were the push factors that made the Irish come to Scotland (6)


  - poverty (most people had little money)

  - the population doubled to 8 million with not enough agricultural & industry to support it

  - lack of opportunities (the industry was not growing and did not offer well paid jobs)

  - potato famine (a disease that stopped the growth of potatoes with was Ireland's main source of food)

  - lots of eviction

  - smallholders were pushed off the land when landowners wanted to make their own land bigger for modern machinery
• What were the pull factors that made the Irish come to Scotland (11)


  - it was cheap to move

  - better job opportunities

  - worked in summer (send money home then go home in winter)

  - industrial revolution caused more jobs

  - British factories in the textile industry was doing better so people could make more money

  - it was close by

  - they would get paid more for their skills

  - people already had friends/family who could help them settle

  - wages were up to 6x higher

  - women & children were included in the workforce in cotton mills

  - jute mills in Dundee encouraged people to settle