HIS 126 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Atlantic Slave Trade
Document Summary
Women: initially women were a small percentage of slaves sent to the new. Chattel slavery; slaves are treated like livestock; not recognized as human. Slaves are divorced from their culture, alienated + dishonored; permanent. Violent: 30-50% of slaves died on route to their destination; 1. 8 million estimated deaths on board ships. Crops include sugar, tobacco, coffee, cotton, indigo (cash crops) world. Women are key actors in slave revolts. Men will cost less because the demand is higher for women in indigenous societies. Male slaves are also generally taken during war. Europeans will eventually start to use women as slaves in the new world. They were less frequently shackled because they were frequently raped whereas male slaves would mostly stay shackled below the ship. In both places family life will be profoundly challenging. Female slaves were used in the eld and in the house. Female slaves had very few children and most of them died; children that lived were sold.
