Am 214: The Atlantic Slave Trade: Am 214: The Atlantic Slave Trade


Plan of Lecture: Plan of Lecture Introduction: Zurara’s account of arrival of slaves, Lagos, Portugal 1444 Volumes and Dimensions of Slave Trade Pre Conquest Africa Participants: African Sellers, European Buyers, American Planters, African Slaves The Middle Passage: Olaudah Equaino Slave Mortality - The Brooks Resistance on Slave Ships The Slave Trade: An African Holocaust?


Zurara’s Account of West African Slaves Lagos, Portugal 1444: Zurara’s Account of West African Slaves Lagos, Portugal 1444 “On the next day … those captives, placed together in that field were a marvellous thing to behold, because among them were some who were reasonably white, handsome and genteel; others, not so white, who were like mulattoes; others as black as Ethiopians, so deformed of face and body that it seemed to those who guarded them that they were gazing upon images of the lowest hemisphere.”


Volume and Destination: Volume and Destination Best source: David Eltis, “The Volume and Structure of the Transatlantic Slave Trade: A Reassessment,” William and Mary Quarterly , LVIII (2001), 17-46 See also: D.Eltis, S. Behrendt, D. Richardson and H. Klein, "The Transatlantic Slave Trade: A Database on CD-ROM" (Cambridge University Press, 1999


Africa Pre Conquest: Africa Pre Conquest


Immense Ethnic Mix: Immense Ethnic Mix


Queen Nzinga and Drummers, Kongo, 1670s: Queen Nzinga and Drummers, Kongo, 1670s


Queen Nzinga prints: Queen Nzinga prints Antonio Cavazzi (b. 1621) was an Italian priest who from 1654 to 1667 joined the Capuchin mission in what is today northern Angola; after a visit to Europe, he returned to Angola, particularly the Kingdom of Kongo, where he remained from 1672 to 1677. He died in Genoa in 1678. Cavazzi made this and other watercolors, the originals of which are in his manuscript, located in a private collection in Modena, Italy (see also "Cavazzi" for other images on this website). Cavazzi's drawings must be among the earliest known eyewitness sketches of African life by a European


Soldiers, Kongo, 1670s: Soldiers, Kongo, 1670s


Musicians, Kongo, 1670s: Musicians, Kongo, 1670s


Queen Nzinga and Entourage, Kongo, 1670s: Queen Nzinga and Entourage, Kongo, 1670s


Ceremonial Procession, Kongo, 1670s: Ceremonial Procession, Kongo, 1670s


Queen Nzinga and Entourage, Kongo, 1670s: Queen Nzinga and Entourage, Kongo, 1670s


Magician, Kongo, 1670s: Magician, Kongo, 1670s


African House Sierra Leone, late 17th century: African House Sierra Leone, late 17th century


Manioc Preparation, 1722: Manioc Preparation, 1722


Clothes, Houses, Music, Gambia 18th century: Clothes, Houses, Music, Gambia 18th century


Male Circumcision Ceremony: Male Circumcision Ceremony


Coronation King of Whydah, April 1725: Coronation King of Whydah, April 1725


Procession of the Serpent, Whydah, April 1725: Procession of the Serpent, Whydah, April 1725


City of Loango, Angola, late 17th century: City of Loango, Angola, late 17th century


Don Alvaro, King of Kongo, receiving Dutch delegation, 1642: Don Alvaro, King of Kongo, receiving Dutch delegation, 1642


Europeans in Slave Trade: Merchants: Europeans in Slave Trade: Merchants Merchant slave traders – Pierre Cornut (banker); Browns of Rhode Island (whalers); Richard Oswald of London (troop provisions); Sir Alexander Grant (planter) Jean Barbot “however unpleasant it was to be a slave in the Americas, it was better than to be one, or even a free man in Africa” Gerard Mellior of Nantes: “At bottom, the blacks are naturally inclined to theft, robbery, idleness and treason.”


Europeans in Slave Trade: Sailors: Europeans in Slave Trade: Sailors Ship’s captains – men of parts Surgeons Ordinary seamen John Newton: “The real or supposed necessity of treating the Negroes with rigour gradually brings a numbness upon the heart and renders those who are engaged in it too indifferent to the sufferings of their fellow creatures”


The Middle Passage: The Middle Passage Olaudah Equaino , An Interesting narrative Claimed he was an African boy from Ibo region of Nigeria, carried to America as a nine year old boy. May have been from South Carolina. “The first object which saluted my eyes was the sea, and a slave ship, which was then riding at anchor … These filled me with astonishment, which was soon converted to terror, when I was carried on board.”


The Slave Ship: The Slave Ship


Selection of Slaves in Africa: Selection of Slaves in Africa


Europeans Haggling with African Traders: Europeans Haggling with African Traders


Selection of African Slaves: Selection of African Slaves


Being Sold into Slavery: Being Sold into Slavery


Slave Branding: Slave Branding


Slaves loaded onto ships: Slaves loaded onto ships


Slaves loaded onto ship: Slaves loaded onto ship


Slaves on slave ship: Slaves on slave ship


Slaves on slave ship: Slaves on slave ship


The packing of Slaves: The packing of Slaves


Slave Packing, the Brooks: Slave Packing, the Brooks


French drawing of slave transportation: French drawing of slave transportation


Slaves made to dance: Slaves made to dance


Slave shackles: Slave shackles


Slave Punishment – Captain Kember: Slave Punishment – Captain Kember


Slave Rebellion: Slave Rebellion


Slave Rebellion: Slave Rebellion


Slave Sale, America: Slave Sale, America


The Slave Trade as an African Holocaust?: The Slave Trade as an African Holocaust? Anne Frank: “Every night people are being picked up without warning and that is awful particularly for old and sick people, they treat them just like slaves in the olden days… If it is as bad as this in Holland whatever will it be like in the distant and barbarous regions they are sent to? We assume most of them are murdered.”