Your Task:

 

Working in 4 groups answer three of the following questions on a separate page.  Your answers should be brief, bulleted, and to the point.  They should also include an image or two, and key quotes (yes, those juicy nuggets!!)

 

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

 

Completed Study Guide

 

Questions:

1. Create a timeline of the 5 most significant events from this time period (1607-1750).

 

2. Describe the typical relationship between Native Americans and Colonial Immigrants.

• pragmatic - both made decisions based on what would be best for their societies.
• War and peace was dicated by the needs of the day.
• Europeans had different views of land ownership, God, and progress.
• Generally hostile relations developed (Pequot War, King Philips War etc.)

The Colonial Immigrants believed that the native Americans were savages, the colonial immigrants would exploit them or pay them for labor, although the native Americans were more susceptible to diseases or were able to run away back to their homes and their people. Mostly fighting was present between the two but occasionally friendliness would be shown between the two. 

 

3. What was an indentured servant and how did their lives compare to those of a slave?

An indentured servent is similar to a slave, but they are, in a way, rented insead of bought.  They are a servant for a number of years, usually seven, and once they have completed those seven years, the owner will give them land and help them start a new life.

" All were indentured servants. During their time as servants, they were fed and housed. Afterwards, they would be given what were known as "freedom dues," which usually included a piece of land and supplies, including a gun. Black-skinned or white-skinned, they became free."

www.wvu.edu/~lawfac/jscully/Race/images/slavery.jpg

 

4. What motivated the first European explorers to come to the West African Coast?

• Gold
• Sea Route to Asian Spices
• Ivory
• Only later came slaves

 

5. What was the purpose of the Elmina Castle?

The Elmina Castle was a trading post for gold on the West African Coast.  "The purpose of Elmina Castle, as well as the future outposts, was to give support to captainsby providing their vessels with a secure harbor.

 

 http://www.quaye.dk/GHANA_movies/Album/pages/P_Elmina%20Castle_jpg.htm

The Elmina Castle was a trading post for gold on the West African Coast.  "The purpose of Elmina Castle, as well as the future outposts, was to give support to captainsby providing their vessels with a secure harbor.

 

6. How was African slavery different from the tye of slavery that would emerge in the U.S.?

Basicly they were a little differnt. The Africans had differnt ways of slavery. like they were not aloud to marry, were slaves there hole life, could not own land and they would fight between tribes. And when one tribe won they took there slaves and used them.

"slavery in Africa and the brutal form of slavery that would develop in the Americas were vastly different. African slavery was more akin to European serfdom --the condition of most Europeans in the 15th century. In the Ashanti Kingdom of West Africa, for example, slaves could marry, own property and even own slaves. And slavery ended after a certain number of years of servitude. Most importantly, African slavery was never passed from one generation to another, and it lacked the racist notion that whites were masters and blacks were slaves"

 

7. Why were African slaves needed so badly in the Americas?

Because, less people were wanting to become indentured servants, and more and more labor was needed.  slaves could be used for a longer period of time than the indentured servants and could be treated in any which way that their owners or master wished. slaves were able to work their whole lives while indentured servants could serve for only 4 to 7 years.

• More Available
• More dependable
• More Profitable?
• Helped keep peace in white society (served the elite's interests)

 

8. How did Richard Hakluyt make the argument in favor of English colonization of America? (Extra Credit: Make a marketing advertisement to sell the benefits of English Colonization to English citizens)

"Urging their countrymen to join in the race for the colonization of the New World were two men, an uncle and his nephew, each named Richard Hakluyt. In a number of popular pamphlets they made the argument for colonization: England stood to gain glory, profit, and adventure. The younger sons of English nobility, lacking property at home, would have new lands to lord over. Merchants would have exotic products to bring home and new markets in which to sell their goods. The clergy could convert "savages" to Christianity. The landless poor, who burdened English towns and cities in increasing numbers, would have opportunity to rise up from their poverty."

 

9. What was life like as a 'planter' for the Virginia Company of London?

Planters were required to work for the Company for a set number of years. In exchange for this work -- or, more precisely, servitude -- the company provided housing, clothing, and food. At the end of the servitude the planter would be granted a piece of land and be free of obligations to the company. In addition, the planter would be entitled to a share of the profits made by the company. (The company also recruited indentured servants, who would work for a set number of years, typically seven, in exchange for passage to the colony.)

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p264.html

 

10. Why was slave labor a better choice than indentured servitude from the viewpoint of the colonial elite?

"Traditionally, Englishmen believed they had a right to enslave a non-Christian or a captive taken in a just war. Africans and Indians might fit one or both of these definitions. But what if they learned English and converted to the Protestant church? Should they be released from bondage and given "freedom dues?" What if, on the other hand, status were determined not by (changeable ) religious faith but by (unchangeable) skin color?

Also, the indentured servants, especially once freed, began to pose a threat to the property-owning elite. The colonial establishment had placed restrictions on available lands, creating unrest among newly freed indentured servants. In 1676, working class men burned down Jamestown, making indentured servitude look even less attractive to Virginia leaders. Also, servants moved on, forcing a need for costly replacements; slaves, especially ones you could identify by skin color, could not move on and become free competitors.

 

11. Describe the process that a typical slave went through from Africa to America?

--Many slave merchants would come to collect one or more slaves

--Would put these African Americans in chains around their feet and neck

--They would have to walk any distance to get to the coast

--2/5 slaves would die before they got to the coast

--Once at the coast, they are boarded into 18 inches in height cages,

--And the slaves would stay in these cages, for days, weeks, or months at a time

--They would pass around a bowl full of cornmeal, and some wouldn't get any at all

--Were lucky if you got a little food

--No clean water

--They wouldn't be able to breathe, so ended up killing themselves, or other slaves trying to breathe

--Vomit, and blood everywhere

--When they got to the West, only 10% of the slaves went to the USA, the rest went to Central and South America

 

 

12. What methods did slaveowners use to keep their slaves under control?  How did slaves respond?

They used whips, and they beat them. The shackled them with chains, they branded them, they castrated them, they killed them. Sometimes they would even cut off a foot, hand, or fingers. They weren't allowed to read or write. In some cases they rebelled but it didnt do them any good because if they were caught, the white people would cut off their heads. Some the cut off their heads, some were murdered, some were burned at the stake, and some were hung.

 

"Is not the slave trade entirely at war with the heart of man? And surely that has which begun by breaking down the barriers of virtue, involves in its continuance, destruction to every principal, and burries all sentiments in ruin!When you make slaves, you compell them to live with you in a state of war."

 

-Olaudah Equiano, former slave

 

Part 1 Narrative: • Introduction • Map: The British Colonies • Europeans Come to Western Africa • New World Exploration and English Ambition • From Indentured Servitude to Racial Slavery • The African Slave Trade and the Middle Passage • The Growth of Slavery in North America