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| Atlantic slavery | |
|---|---|
| Name | Atlantic slavery |
| Period | Early modern period–19th century |
| Location | Atlantic Ocean, West Africa, Americas, Caribbean, Europe |
Atlantic slavery Atlantic slavery refers to the system of forced labor and human trafficking that connected West Africa, the Caribbean, Brazil, and North America from the early modern period through the nineteenth century, shaping political, social, and economic structures across continents. European polities such as Portugal, Spain, Britain, France, and the Dutch Republic contracted with African polities including the Ashanti Empire, the Oyo Empire, and the Kingdom of Kongo to source captives transported via the Middle Passage to plantation economies in colonies like Saint-Domingue, Jamaica, Bahia, and South Carolina. The system influenced imperial competition exemplified by the Seven Years' War, commercial networks centered on ports like Liverpool, Bristol, Nantes, and Lisbon, and legal frameworks such as the Slave Trade Act 1807 and the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The origins lie in early contacts among Portuguese Empire, Castile, and coastal African polities during voyages by Prince Henry the Navigator and expeditions to São Tomé and Príncipe and Cape Verde, leading to plantations modeled after Mediterranean systems in Canary Islands and the labor demands of sugar cultivation in Madeira. European mercantile companies like the Dutch West India Company and the Royal African Company partnered with African rulers such as King Afonso I of Kongo and regional brokers to supply captives taken during wars involving the Asante–Fante War and conflicts influenced by firearms from Arms trade in Africa. The Atlantic economic circuit tied to commodities like sugar, tobacco, cotton, and coffee linked to financial institutions including the Bank of England and insurers in Lloyd's of London.
The transatlantic traffic was organized through triangular trade among European metropoles, African trading forts such as Elmina Castle and Goree Island, and colonial entrepôts like Cape Coast Castle and São Luís, Maranhão. Voyages by ships owned by merchants in Glasgow, Antwerp, and Cadiz embarked captives from regions including the Bight of Benin, the Bight of Biafra, and the Senegambia to destinations including Havana, Kingston, Recife, and Charleston, South Carolina. Notable maritime incidents and regulatory milestones include the Zong massacre, the establishment of treaties like the Treaty of Paris (1783), and suppression efforts by navies such as the Royal Navy squadrons enforcing the British abolition of the slave trade. Quantitative studies using sources like the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database estimate millions of Africans transported across the Atlantic Ocean.
Enslaved people labored on plantations producing sugar in Barbados, Saint Domingue, and Martinique, cotton in Georgia (U.S. state), rice in South Carolina, and coffee in Cuba and Brazil. Household slavery in colonial urban centers like Lagos (Nigeria), Lisbon, and Havana contrasted with gang-labor regimes on plantations governed by overseers connected to planters such as James Hamilton (planter) and colonial legislatures like the Virginia General Assembly. Cultural continuities and syncretism appear in practices linked to Vodou, Candomblé, Santería, and Creole languages such as Gullah and Papiamento. Legal codes including the Code Noir and statutes like the Slave Codes regulated status, family separation, and punishment.
Resistance took many forms: everyday acts of refusal, flight to maroon communities in regions like Jamaica and Suriname, legal petitions to courts in Saint-Domingue and England, and large-scale uprisings such as the Haitian Revolution, the Stono Rebellion, the Baptist War (1831) in Jamaica, and the Malê revolt in Brazil. Prominent figures include insurgents and leaders like Toussaint Louverture, Nat Turner, and Jean-Jacques Dessalines, while abolitionist allies such as William Wilberforce, Frederick Douglass, and Olaudah Equiano mobilized public opinion through print networks tied to newspapers in London, Boston, and Paris. Naval interceptions, slave rebellions aboard ships, and legal cases such as Somersett's Case illustrate contested sovereignty and human rights claims.
Abolitionist movements emerged in metropolitan centers with organizations like the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, religious groups including the Quakers, and political reforms enacted by legislatures in Britain, France, and the United States. Key legal milestones include the Slave Trade Act 1807, the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, while colonial emancipation unfolded through decrees such as those by Victor Schœlcher and post-emancipation arrangements like apprenticeship systems in Barbados. International diplomacy—including the Congress of Vienna and bilateral treaties—shaped enforcement, and abolitionist literature exemplified by works of Harriet Beecher Stowe and narratives by Olaudah Equiano influenced public debates.
Atlantic slavery restructured labor supplies, capital accumulation, and demographic patterns, fueling wealth for metropolitan centers like Amsterdam and Liverpool and underwriting industries in Manchester and Birmingham. Demographic consequences included population losses in regions such as the Bight of Biafra and the Gold Coast, gender imbalances in affected African societies, urban growth in colonial ports like Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans, and the rise of planter aristocracies in Saint-Domingue and Charleston, South Carolina. Economic linkages connected commodities to financial instruments issued by institutions like the Bank of France and shipping insurance markets in Rothschild family networks, while ecological transformations resulted from monoculture agriculture in Barbados and Haiti.
The legacy is evident in racial ideologies shaped by scholars and pseudoscientists such as Georges Cuvier and in political movements including Black Consciousness Movement and civil rights struggles led by figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and organizations such as the NAACP. Memory cultures include monuments in St. Lucia, museums like the International Slavery Museum and Museu Afro Brasil, commemorative days such as Juneteenth and International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, and scholarly fields anchored by journals and centers at institutions like University of the West Indies and Harvard University. Contemporary debates over reparations involve activists and scholars citing precedents from restitution cases in Germany and discussions in forums such as the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Category:Slavery