1450-1750
Early Modern Period
- Slave Systems and Slave Trade
- Slave Systems in the Americas
- Labor/Economic System
- Encomienda System – American Feudalism
- Peninsulares get land and # of slaves/native laborers
- In exchange, must protect them and convert them
- Not “intended” to be slave system, but essentially was
- Peninsulares get land and # of slaves/native laborers
- Attempts at reform
- Treatment horrific – Christian missionaries appealed for reform
- Reduced strain on natives by bringing in Africans
- Replaced one oppressed group with another
- Both Africans and Natives ended up at bottom of social hierarchy
- Abolished in 1542
- Attempts by clergy to protest cruel treatment
- Government of Spain shifted to Madrid – new leadership
- Forced Spanish to bring in more African slaves
- African Slave Trade
- Existed before transatlantic voyages
- Portuguese captures slaves on coasts of Africa
- Africans had been raiding from ancient times
- Put to work in gold and salt mines
- Women often enslaved and traded
- some become part of harem
- Use as household servants
- trans-Saharan trade already brought slaves to Mediterranean world
- mid-15th century Portuguese opened up direct trade
- New World demand for labor
- Forced migration of millions
- W. Africans already skilled in agriculture
- Changed history of New World
- Forced migration of millions
- Some African rulers cooperated with slave trade
- Portuguese brought into contact with powerful African kingdoms
- Kongo, Benin, Mali and Songhay
- Mali/Songhay enriched already by gold-salt trade
- Kongo and Benin wanted to Christianize
- 15th century rulers convert
- Kongo, Benin, Mali and Songhay
- Characteristics of African kingdoms
- own political and court traditions
- monarchs rules with assistance of governing councils
- artisans produced works in ivory, ebony and bronze
- active trade in slaves, spices, ivory, textiles
- slaves usually prisoners of war
- captives of slave raids
- Portuguese brought into contact with powerful African kingdoms
- Europeans forced issue
- rounded up
- forced onto ships
- chained together
- Endured Middle Passage – part of triangular trade route
- Hot, unventilated conditions – suffocation
- Some starved
- Killed in attempted revolts
- Taken to auction blocks
- Types of labor
- Sugar/coffee plantations
- Mines
- Slavery hereditary – children automatically slaves
- N. America vs. S. America Caribbean
- Families vs. Males
- Natural reproduction vs. existence based on trade
- Motivation for keeping alive differed
- Reached peak in 18th century
- Triangular trade
- European guns and other manufactured goods trade to Africans for slaves
- Slaves were transported from Africa to South America or West Indies
- Sugar, molasses and rum produced by slave labor traded to Europe for mfg goods
- Existed before transatlantic voyages
- Effects on Africa
- Guns and European glass became prized
- Often traded for human slaves
- Causes massive demographic shifts
- Brutal separation from family/culture
- More males than females transported
- Heavy work required on plantations
- More males than females transported
- Even if survived, absorbed into foreign culture that considered them property
- Many Christianized, but…
- Maintained parts of their language and culture
- Unique cultural synthesis – African music, dress, and mannerisms mixed with Spanish and indigenous cultures in the Americas
- Brutal separation from family/culture
- Reliance on importation of European technology
- Lessened technological development of African kingdoms
- Guns and European glass became prized
- Encomienda System – American Feudalism
- Labor/Economic System
- Slave Systems in the Americas