MMW 13 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Sweet Potato, Atlantic World, Clove
31 May 2018
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Department
Course
Professor
The Atlantic System
● Forced Arrivals
○ 35,000 voyages
○ Americas had more Africans brought than Europeans
○ Before 1820
■ ⅘ arrivals were Africans
■ 8.4 million involuntary Africans
■ 2.4 million European immigrants
○ The Jesuits were the largest corporate order in Latin America to own slaves
■ People felt that their faith justified slavery
● Longevity
○ Slave trade abolished
■ 1807 -- Britain
■ 1865 -- USA
■ 1886 -- Cuba
■ 1888 -- Brazil
○ Britain abolished the slave trade right at the beginning of the industrial revolution
■ Mechanization of commodities → don’t need slaves
■ Slave-produced commodities were competition to factory-produced goods
■ There was also a moral uprising against it
● Slave Trade
○ Forced deportation varied by
■ Period
■ Goals of colonial powers
■ Goals of African kingdoms
■ Demands for commodities
○ Begins in the 15th c.
○ Expands in the 16th-17th c.
○ Peak in the 18th c.
■ Growth powered by plantation/trade complex in the Americas
● Atlantic Africa
○ Local rulers and merchants sell Africans
■ War captives
■ Kidnapping/slave raiding
■ Judicial cases
○ Merchant networks were from the interior to the coast
○ African kingdoms not colonized until 19th c.
○ Slave markets existed in 7 distinct regions of W and Central Africa
○ West Central Africa and Bight of Benin comprised 60% of the total slave trade
■ West Central Africa was a Portuguese colony
○ Demand and guns lead to more “wars” and more slaves
■ Slave raiders would come into communities and kidnap people
○ Communities change lifeways to avoid slaves
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Document Summary
Americas had more africans brought than europeans. The jesuits were the largest corporate order in latin america to own slaves. People felt that their faith justified slavery. Britain abolished the slave trade right at the beginning of the industrial revolution. Mechanization of commodities don"t need slaves. Slave-produced commodities were competition to factory-produced goods. There was also a moral uprising against it. Growth powered by plantation/trade complex in the americas. Merchant networks were from the interior to the coast. African kingdoms not colonized until 19th c. Slave markets existed in 7 distinct regions of w and central africa. West central africa and bight of benin comprised 60% of the total slave trade. West central africa was a portuguese colony. Demand and guns lead to more wars and more slaves. Slave raiders would come into communities and kidnap people. Use natural geography to hide themselves/make themselves less accessible. Major slave trading posts develop in these cities.
