MMW 13 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: French West Indies, Olaudah Equiano, Triangular Trade
Key Focus:
What were the economic driving forces behind the slave trade?
1)
What were some global repercussions?
2)
The Origin of the Atlantic Slave Trade
Slavery Prior to 1400
Origin of the word “slave”
i)
Key differences between pre-15th century and post-15th century
slavery
Ratio of slaves to free people in pre-15th century societies very
low
(1)
Slave status seldom defined by a person’s ethnicity
(2)
ii)
Advent of the plantation system
iii)
a)
The Sugar Connection
A cultural consequence of the Crusades
i)
Developed Atlantic “sugar islands”
ii)
Pedro Alvares Cabral’s landing on the coast of Brazil
iii)
Plantation societies also later emerged in the French Caribbean
iv)
b)
The Economics of Plantation Societies
“Multinational” enterprises
Every major European power profited from and was complicit
in the slave trade
(1)
i)
Advent of industrial-style mass production
Followed a capital-intensive vs. labor-intensive logic
(1)
More “economical” to replace than to sustain slave labor
This logic particularly pervasive in South America and
the Caribbean
(a)
(2)
Roots of proto-capitalism in slave-based plantations?
(3)
ii)
Subversion against such blatant economic exploitation
Resistance from slaves in places like Brazil, Jamaica, Dutch
Surinam
(1)
Slave Revolt in Haiti 1792
(2)
iii)
c)
I)
Lecture 14
Thursday, May 3, 2018
10:16 AM
Document Summary
The origin of the atlantic slave trade a) Slavery prior to 1400 b) c) i) ii) Key differences between pre-15th century and post-15th century slavery (1) Ratio of slaves to free people in pre-15th century societies very low. Slave status seldom defined by a person"s ethnicity (2) Pedro alvares cabral"s landing on the coast of brazil. Plantation societies also later emerged in the french caribbean i) ii) iii) iv) The economics of plantation societies i) ii) iii) Every major european power profited from and was complicit in the slave trade. More economical to replace than to sustain slave labor (a) This logic particularly pervasive in south america and the caribbean. Resistance from slaves in places like brazil, jamaica, dutch. The global impact of the atlantic slave trade a) The triangular trade of the atlantic i) ii) Trade engine that would propel europe towards the industrial. Refinement of cruelty accouns to the middle passage i) ii)
