Slavery

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Slavery

Wat je gaat leren in deze les

• waarom why African slaves were used to work on plantations in America
• the role of the WIC in the Trans- Atlantic slave trade
• how slaves were treated by their masters
• how the Dutch gained Surinam
• what maroons were
• how Dutch planters used slaves to work their plantations in Surinam

www.history.com

the first country to bring African slaves to America was:

1. Great Britain
2. Spain
3. France
4. The Netherlands

African slaves were called:

1. black gold
2. easy profit
3. cheap labour
4. Dutch wealth

slave plantations

European colonies had to produce large amounts of raw materials, such ras cotton or sugar, cheaply. A lot of labour was needed to cultivate their crops. The answer was to use large farms, called plantations, huge numbers of slaves from Africa as workers. Slaves were cheap and could cope with work in the hot climate. 

Slavery was not a new idea; the Romans and Greeks had used slaves. However, slaves in the ancient world were often well treated and had the possibility of earning money to buy their freedom. This did not apply to plantation slaves. 

 

 

After 1730, the Dutch government let the Middelburg Commercial 

Company (MCC) trade slaves, as well as the WIC. Almost all MCC trade was across the Atlantic. In all, it carried just over 31,000 slaves - about 

4 500 died at sea. The appalling conditions in which many traders and 

planters transported and kept slaves horrified many people even if they did not object to the idea of slavery itself.

What was a plantation and why did it use slaves?

American plantation slaves could earn their freedom

1. true
2. not true

WIC

The Dutch not only used slaves in all their colonies, but also traded in slaves. The West Indies Company (WIC), set up in 1621, ran the Dutch West Indies trade, including the slave trade. Between 1621 and 1730, 

WIC ships from Vlissingen carried almost 279,000 slaves from Africa to West Indian colonies and WIC ships from Amsterdam carried over 73,000. After 1730, the Dutch government let the Middelburg Commercial Company (MCC) trade slaves, as well as the WIC. Almost all MCC trade was across the Atlantic. In all, it carried just over 31,000 slaves - about 4 500 died at sea. The appalling conditions in which many traders and planters transported and kept slaves horrified many people even if they did not object to the idea of slavery itself.

How many slaves from Africa did the WIC take to the Dutch colonies?

1. 73,000
2. 279,000
3. 352,000
4. 206,000

How many slaves from Africa did the MCC take to the Dutch colonies?

1. 31,000
2. 26,500
3. 73,000
4. 104,000

What percentage of the MCC slaves died during the journey?

1. about 34,3 %
2. about 9,8 %
3. about 2 %
4. about 11,3 %

If the same percentage died how many WIC slaves would have died during the journey? Explain your answer.

Triangular Trade

Explain in your own words the working of the triangular trade.

The next slide is a weblink.
Describe the deal between Britain and the Netherlands in which the Netherlands gained Surinam as a colony.

en.wikipedia.org

Suriname

The Dutch gained Suriname (now the modern republic of Suriname in South America) in the treaty that ended the second Anglo-Dutch War in 1667. 

Planters there grew mostly coffee, sugar and cocoa. The colony was never a great success, partly because the jungle offered runaway slaves a good hiding place. The runaways (called 'maroons') set up their own communities, 

co-existing with the local people. 

Which of the following products was NOT grown in Surinam?

1. coffee
2. tea
3. sugar
4. cocoa

Who were maroons?

1. Dutch planters
2. freed slaves
3. runaway slaves
4. native Surinam people

Maroons

Maroons often attacked plantations, to free slaves. Slaves were encouraged to run away, and revolt, by just knowing that the maroons existed. The planters of Surinam were especially harsh in their punishments. This made slaves more likely to want to run away. 

There were regular revolts from 1715 to 1763. During the worst of the revolts in 1763, the planters freed some slaves to set up an army to fight the maroons.

SOURCE A. An 18th century engraving of how a slave ship was loaded.

Harsh punishments prevented slaves from running away

1. true
2. not true

SOURCE B - Written in 1789 by Olaudah Equiano, who was kidnapped and enslaved aged 11, but eventually bought his freedom, settled in Britain and campaigned against the slave trade.

"The airlessness and the heat in the hold, added to the number of us (crowded so each had scarcely room to turn over) almost suffocated us. We sweated heavily; the air soon became unfit to breathe, and brought on a sickness among the slaves, many of whom died. 

Our wretched situation was made worse by the rubbing of the chains, now unbearable. The 

toilet buckets were full of filth and the children often fell into them and almost drowned. The shrieks of the women and groans of the dying made the hold a place of almost inconceivable horror."

 

SOURCE C

From a book about Surinam written by John Stedman who was with an army sent there in 1744 to crush a slave rebellion

A planter gets out of his hammock at dawn and goes to the porch around his house where breakfast is a waiting for him. He is served by the most attractive of his young male and female slaves. After breakfast the overseer reports on which negroes deserted, died, fell sick, recovered, were caught, bought or born. 

Captured runaways or anyone who has been a slow worker, or broken any other rule, are brought up for 

punishment. Without being allowed to speak in their defence, they are hung from the beams of the porch, or a nearby tree and beaten with whips, while the master and overseer walk up and down talking.

The planter then walks or rides over part of his estate and, at ten, has another meal. He reads, plays chess or otherwise amuses himself until the heat of the day, when he goes to his hammock. 

He rises at about 3 o'clock, washes and eats another meal. At 6 o'clock the overseer returns and makes another report. There are more punishments. Then they decide on the work for the next day. 

SOURCE D. An engraving of a Surinam plantation, printed in 1820

What parts of source B's description are supported by source A?

Does source C support source D? Explain your answer.

If one source supports another, does it mean it has to be true? Explain your answer.

Use the information from the website (next slide)
How long did slavery last in America?
Explain your answer.

www.bbc.co.uk

Use the information from the website to describe and explain the difference between slavery in Roman times and slavery in America in the 18th century.

Summarise this lesson in three sentences.

important words

plantation

slave

maroon

WIC

important dates

1619: first African slaves arrive in America

1621: founding of the WIC

1667: Surinam becomes a Dutch colony

1865: slavery in America abolished

more information

films about slavery:

• Twelve Years a Slave
  
• Amistad
  
• Glory
  
• Roots
  

or watch the crash course in the final slide