African Slaves
Definition
African slaves were individuals from Africa who were captured and sold into slavery, primarily to European colonies in the Americas during the 15th to 19th centuries. This was part of the Atlantic Slave Trade.
Analogy
Imagine you're playing a game of chess. The pawns are like African slaves - they're often undervalued, exploited for others' gains, and their movements are controlled by someone else. Just as pawns can sometimes change the course of a game, African slaves also had significant impacts on societies and economies across the world.
Related terms
Middle Passage: This refers to the journey enslaved Africans took across the Atlantic Ocean to reach American plantations. Conditions were horrifically cramped and many died en route.
Triangular Trade: A system of trade between Europe, Africa, and America where goods (like guns) were traded for slaves in Africa; these slaves were then transported (via Middle Passage) to America; finally, American products (like sugar or tobacco) produced by slave labor would be shipped back to Europe.
Plantation System: An agricultural system in North America that relied heavily on slave labor. Large farms called plantations grew cash crops such as tobacco, cotton, sugar cane which were exported mainly to Europe.
"African Slaves" appears in:
Subjects (2)
Study guides (2)
Practice Questions (4)
Which event significantly increased the demand for African slaves in the Americas?
What was the primary good exchanged for African slaves in the 16th and 17th centuries?
What sparked a huge increase in demand for African slaves in the Americas during the late-16th and early-17th centuries?
In which century did Portugal begin transporting African slaves to Brazil, marking the start of Atlantic Slave Trade in earnest?
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