The Roots of Slavery• Slavery can broadly be described as the ownership, buying and selling of human beings for the purpose of forced and unpaid labor. It is an ancient practice, mentioned in both the Bible and the Koran.

Questions• What are the roots of slavery? It is an ancient practice mentioned in the Bible and the Koran. Examples are

Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome.• What part of Africa did most slaves come from? Why?

Most slaves came from West and Central Africa. They were traded for in these areas because it was closer to the New World and it was along the coast.

• How many Africans were enslaved from 1450 to 1850?12 million

• What items were traded for slaves?Manufactured goods, metal tool and GUNS.

Trans-Atlantic Slavery Different from Previous Forms of Slavery

• Were forced to leave the land that they knew and travel thousands of miles across the Atlantic via the cruel “Middle Passage”

• Went to a new land with a new culture and a new language

• Were seen as being inferior – were property, like a horse

Slave-gun Cycle• European merchants relied on African rulers to

provide slaves• In return, African rulers would get guns and

manufactured goods• African rulers would use guns to take more slaves

and conquer more land

• Africans were crowded and chained cruelly aboard slave ships.

Questions• How was the Atlantic slave trade different from past enslavements?

The Atlantic Slave trade was different from past enslavements for three reasons:1. African slaves were taken thousands of miles from their homeland2. They had to learn a new culture and a new language. It was difficult

to communicate.3. The practice was racist. Europeans treated the African slaves as

inhuman more like property or cattle.• What was the slave gun cycle?

European merchants brought manufactured goods to Africa and in exchange African rulers sold slaves from weaker tribes.

• What were conditions like for slaves on their journey to the Americas?Conditions were unbearable. It was hot, dark, crowded, unsanitary, smelly, depressed and haven for disease.