Chapter+18+Outline

Chapter 18: The Atlantic System and Africa, 1550-1800 -(1694) Hannibal (English) went to Whydah’s port to purchase 692 African slaves -Physical inspections and branding of captives -hired by the Royal African Company -**Royal African Company**- a trading company chartered by the English govt. (1627) to conduct its merchants’ trade on the Atlantic coast of Africa -fed slaves twice a day with boiled corn and beans and pint of water -lost 320 slaves and 14 crew members in 7 week journey to Barbados (disease) = = =__ Plantations in the West Indies __= -(1650) sugar plantations, slaves, and European capital revived West Indies islands as a major Atlantic economic center

// Colonization Before 1650 //
-(1500) Spanish introduced sugar plantation -(1600) N. Europeans focused on tobacco and other crops -(1620s and 1630s) English found small European settlements on Montserrat, Barbados and Caribbean islands -French settled in Martinique, Guadeloupe, and other islands -(1614) tobacco was valuable in trade -shortages in supplies and labor=solutions: -**chartered companies**- group of private investors who paid an annual fee to France and England in exchange for monopoly over trade in West Indies colonies -companies provided free passage to colonies for poor Europeans (indentured servants) -(1640s) Dutch shifted labor from servants to African slaves -Dutch fought for independence from Spaniards and improved economy -**Dutch West India Company-** (1621-1794) Trading company chartered by the Dutch government to conduct merchants’ trade in Americas and Africa -(1635) controlled 1000 miles of NE. Brazil’s coast -improved Spanish’s sugar plantations -(1638) took Elmina (W. Africa’s trading station) -(1640) Portuguese freed from Spain and reconquered Brazil from Dutch (1654)

// Sugar and Slaves //
-(1680s) Barbados depended on sugar and enslaved African -(1700) West Indies- central source for sugar -West Indies switched to slaves when indentured servants went to mainland N. American colonies -rising sugar prices made it affordable to buy slaves

// Plantation Life in the Eighteenth Century //
-France and England sought for more Caribbean islands for more land to have sugar plantations

// Technology and Environment //
-simple tools for harvesting sugar: spades, hoes, machetes -expensive crushing and processing equipment -Barbados used windmills and French/Jamaica used water power mills -powered by water, wind, or animals -size of typical plantation increased -repeated cultivation harmfully removed nutrients -planters migrated to new islands -deforestation occurred -(end of 18th century) only dense forests in islands’ interiors -Europeans’ domesticated animals spread with introduction of new plants -Spanish brought cattle, pig, horses -Canary Islands had banas and plantain -Africa had okra, black-eyed peas, yams, grain, and mangoes -Arawak population almost disappeared

// Slaves’ Lives //
-90% of islands’ inhabitants were slaves -**plantocracy**- small number of very rich men who owned most of the slaves and land -each worker had specific tasks -2-3% of slaves were house servants, 70% were field workers, “grass gang” (supervised children) doing simple jobs -male slaves outnumbered female -head boiler- most important artisan slaves -rewards were food, clothing, time off, or escaping punishment -**driver**- a privileged male slave whose job was to ensure that a slave gang did its work on a plantation -no education or relaxation (Sundays were off-days) -life expectancy- male (23 years) and females (25.5 years) -decrease in population (disease) -**seasoning**- an often difficult period of adjustment to new climates, disease environments and work routines, such as that experienced by slaves newly arrived in the Americas -Europeans taught Africans to abandon own culture and learn colonial language -converted into Catholicism (French and Portuguese) and Christianity (British West Indies)

// Free Whites and Free Blacks //
-free people hierarchy: wealthy owners of large sugar plantation controlling economy and society/ Europeans commoners/ free blacks -master fathering female slave’s child would usually give mother and child freedom -**manumission**- legal grant of freedom to an individual slave -free blacks made up 30% of African pop. in Brazil -**maroons**-a slave who ran away from his/her master. Often a member of a community of runaway slaves in the West Indies and S. America -(1739) signed treaty to have independence if they stopped other runaways or suppressed slave rebellions =__ Creating the Atlantic Economy __=

// Capitalism and Mercantilism //
-private enterprise were more profitable and efficient than royal monopolies -**capitalism**- the economic system of large financial institutions—banks, stock exchanges, investment companies—that first developed in early modern Europe. Commercial capitalism, the trading system of the early modern economy, is often distinguished from industrial capitalism, the system based on machine production -banks- central capitalist institutions that invested entrusted funds to make profits -individuals purchased shares in a joint-stock company -(founded in1530) Amsterdam Exchange-greatest stock market -merchants and companies bought insurance -**mercantilism**- policies adopted by European states to promote their citizens’ overseas trade and accumulate capital in the form of precious metals -discouraged trading w/ foreign merchants & used armed force to secure relations -(1602) Netherlands gave Dutch East India Company legal monopoly over all Dutch trade in Indian ocean -encouraged investors to buy shares in the company -French and English used military to control commerces -(1652-1678) defeated Dutch and Dutch East West Company became bankrupt -(1660s) English passed Navigation Acts that confined trade with its colonies to English ships and cargoes -Atlantic=vital overseas trading area -Britains imports from W. Indies= 1/5 of total British imports -promoted economic expansion and increased govt. revenues

// The Atlantic Circuit //
-**Atlantic Circuit**- The network of trade routes connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas that underlay the Atlantic system -depended on prevailing winds and currents during travels -first leg (Europe to Africa)- European manufactures and Indian cotton textiles for W. African gold, timber, slaves, and etc. -**Middle Passage**- the part of the Atlantic Circuit involving the transportation of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas -third leg (America to Europe) plantation goods for scarce items in colonies -“Triangular Trade”- rum to West Africa, slaves to West Indies, and molasses/rum to New England -two way trade between Brazil and Angola -Brazil and Portugal traded sugar and gold for European imports -(1750) Britain sugar consumption doubled -flow of sugar depended on flow of slaves -lowered mortality during Middle Passage by half -slaves faced psychological depression/ “fixed melancholy” -mutinies occurred on ships -to reduce incidents, African men were confined below deck -diseases =__ The Africa, the Atlantic, and Islam __=

// The Gold Coast and the Slave Coast //
-(1672- 1752) Royal African Company made 40% of profit in trading other than slaves -Africans demanded textiles, hardware, and guns -(18th century) price of slaves in Gold Coast drastically increased -(1727) Dahomey conquered Whydah and maintained trading position with Europeans -(1730) Oyo controlled Dahomey -Dahomey had to pay annual tribute to sustain independence

// The Bight of Biafra and Angola //
-Aro of Arochuckwu- largest inland traders -slaves sold at markets were POW of expanding African states -successful inland Angolan leaders became head of states the stabilized areas and repopulated it with refugees and prisoners

// Africa’s European and Islamic Contacts //
-African collected fees and rents from traders coming to Gold and Slave coasts -Europeans established colonial places in Angola (Portuguese) and Cape Colony (Dutch) -Sub-Saharan Africans learned Muslim beliefs and practices from traders -**Songhai**- a people, language, kingdom, and empire in western Sudan in West Africa. At its height in the 16th century, the Muslim Songhai Empire stretched from the Atlantic to the land of the Hausa and was a major player in the trans-Saharan trade -Morocco destroyed Songhai -weakened trans-Saharan trade in western Sudan -**Hausa**- an agricultural and trading people of central Sudan in West Africa. Aside from their brief incorporation into the Songhai Empire, the Hausa city-states remained independent until the conquered by the Sokoto Caliphate (early 19th century) -trading network similar to coastal African traders except with alcohol -exported caffeine-rich kola nut, cotton textiles, and leather goods -slaves in Islamic world were soldiers or servants -Morocco had army of 150,000 African slaves -trans-Saharan slave trade had increase in children and eunuch trading -**Bornu**- a powerful W. African kingdom at the s. edge of the Sahara in the Central Sudan, which was important in trans-Saharan trade and spreading Islam. Also known as Kanem-Bornu, it endured from 9th century to end of 19th -Muslims didn’t view owning or trading slaves bad -thought they were doing good when converting slaves to Islam -(1550-1800) 8 million Africans exported into Atlantic trade, 2 million in Islamic trade -effect on loss of Africa’s pop: -sub-Saharan Africa’s overall population remained large -localities contributed to slave trade and made profit -ability of repopulation was related to proportion of fertile women where shipped away =__ Conclusion __= -isolated areas became part of vast trading system controlled by Europe -Africa played vital role in Atlantic system