The Slave Trade
A quick summary of the impact of sugar on theTrans-Atlantic slave trade
Behind the sophistication and glamour of the polite respectable Georgian society that sugar provided, lies the story of slavery - inflicted on 15 million African people who endured a life of cruelty and brutality; with many only knowing a life of enslavement to white European power.
SUGAR CHANGED THE WORLD
Between the period 1500-1900, Europeans forcibly moved nearly 15 million people from western and central Africa and transported them across the Atlantic to various parts of Central America, all under inhumane conditions.
The term ‘slave’ stripped people of their identities.
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These people were farmers, merchants, soldiers, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters.
Upon arrival in the Americas, a Christian name was forced upon each person, they became the property of a 'master' and endured labour intensive work, lives of degradation suffering continuous brutality in their daily life.
How did Sugar impact Slavery?
Sugar was labelled as the 'WHITE GOLD' that fuelled slavery.
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Although the slave trade evolved independently from the expansion of the sugar economy and transported slaves across the globe for over 160 years prior, from 1600 the transportation of African people to the New Worlds fuelled the provision of cheap labour to the sugar industry.
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Sugar is responsible for​ the destruction of countless indigenous lives and the enslavement of nearly 15 million Africans (if they survived the Middle Passage) for over four centuries.
The average annual enslavement of African people by the British tripled over the eighteenth century.
Between 1701-1801 alone, they carried 2.5-3.7 million slaves to America.
Barbados is a great example to show the impact of the sugar industry. Over 35 years, the number of slaves on the island increased six fold:
1645: 5680 slaves
1680: 38,000 slaves
38,000 Africans were enslaved and forced to live a life of degradation and brutality in Barbados alone.
The sugar industry is also responsible for the creation of the Triangular Trade Route, otherwise known as the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade which was established for over 300 years.
The Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Route
The triangular trade route and its 'Middle Passage' existed from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century.
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The Route:
1. Europe to Africa carrying textiles, rum and manufactured goods to Africa
2. Africa to America responsible for the transportation of slaves to the New World. This route is known as the Middle Passage.
3. America to Europe transporting back cotton, coffee, sugar, tobacco and cocoa cultivated in the New Worlds.
The Middle Passage
The middle passage was the route across the Atlantic from Africa which was used to transport 60,000 slaves per year (on average) to the Americas.
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The slave ships were small, and conditions were extremely unhygienic. Dysentery, smallpox and measles prevailed amongst the cargo of slaves.
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Between 20-40% of those people destined for slavery died during transportation from the African Coast.
3-10% died before transport and a further 15% died on board the ship.
More than 1/3 of all slaves died before ever reaching the Americas.
The brutality experienced by slaves is detailed by The Black Man’s Lament- a poem about the realities of slavery written by Amelia Opie, a former slave.
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To learn more about slave experience, please read Amelia Opie's poem.
The Black Man's Lament written by Amelia Opie
In Britain
There is no question that the full blooded brutality of plantation slavery was a colonial phenomenon. The sale of black humans was a normal feature of British life between the 1650s and the end of the nineteenth century.
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It was also common for African Slaves to be transported from the Americas back to England and Europe for domestic service. The sale of humans was often advertised in newspapers and conducted in the thriving and fashionable coffee houses and alehouses in the key port towns of Liverpool, Bristol and London. The slaves listed for sale in advertisements tended to be recent arrivals, shipped in from the West Indies.
Daily Advertiser 1744:
‘To be sold, A pretty little negro boy, about 9 years old and well limb’d. if not dispos’d of, is to be sent to the west indies in 6 days’ time. He is to be seen at the Dolphin Tavern in Tower Street’
Bristol also appears to be at the centre of this trade, with advertisements in newspapers offering boys for sale to the gentlemen or ladies of Bristol’s elite.
Farley’s Bristol Newspaper 31 August 1728
‘A negro man about 20 years old, well limbed, fit to serve a gentleman or to be instructed in a trade’
Legacy
The Trans-Atlantic slave trade left behind a legacy of racism and Eurocentrism.
The stigma and shame of slavery has had a significant impact across the world throughout the past three centuries. From the Jim Crow laws in the US, and decades of segregation to the Black Lives Matter riots of 2020, we are still experiencing the humility associated with slavery in today’s society.
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Black people have universally found themselves victims of racial discrimination and prejudice despite the Abolition of Slavery Act in 1833 and the more recent Equality Act of 2010.
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In the US, African Americans have received particular discrimination, as those of African descent were declared second class citizens in 1857 and forced to accept segregation under the Jim Crow laws. Chief Justice Roger Taney, the judge in the Supreme Court Case, so decisively determined, that people of colour had 'no rights which the white man was bound to respect.'
Sugar truly transformed our society and is intimately linked to one of the largest issues in today’s society!
