The Atlantic Trade of Enslaved People 1731-1775

Oxford University Press

Critical Analysis

1. Describe the main story this map tells.

2. Why were slaves brought to the Americas?

3. What are two consequences of the American slave trade?

4. How did the population of enslaved people, in what would later become the United States, compare to other parts of the Americas?

5. In what would become the United States, was slavery restricted to only southern states (which would later become Confederate States)?

6. In 1775 the enslaved population in the American colonies reached half a million. In Virginia, the ratio of free colonists to enslaved people was nearly 1:1. In South Carolina it was approximately 1:2. How did this population of enslaved people influence American politics at the time?

7. An act of Congress passed in 1800 made it illegal for Americans to engage in the slave trade between nations, and gave U.S. authorities the right to seize slave ships which were caught transporting slaves and confiscate their cargo. Then the "Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves" took effect in 1808. However, a domestic or "coastwise" trade in slaves persisted between ports within the United States, as demonstrated by slave manifests and court records. On December 18, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was adopted as part of the United States Constitution. The amendment officially abolished slavery, and immediately freed more than 100,000 enslaved people, from Kentucky to Delaware. Why did it take so long to outlaw the enslavement of people?

8. How does the story of slavery continue to impact America today?

Learning Extension

Check out this PBS timeline: Slavery and the making of America.