Enslaved Africans were also much less expensive to maintain than indentured European servants or paid wage labourers. Enslaved Africans were often treated
harshly
. First they had to survive the appalling conditions on the voyage from West Africa, known as the Middle Passage. The death rate was high.
What kind of slaves were in the Caribbean?
Early labourers in the Caribbean were
White transportees and indentured servants
but with a high mortality rate, they were unreliable as a source of labour.
What did most slaves do in the Caribbean?
At its peak production between 1740 and 1807 Jamaica received 33% of the total enslaved people who were trafficked in order to keep up its production. Other crops besides sugar were also cultivated on the plantations.
Tobacco, coffee, and livestock
were all produced as well using slave labor.
How was the Caribbean affected by African slavery?
The negative impact of the slave trade on the development of the Caribbean islands. The slave trade had long lasting negative effects on the islands of the Caribbean. The native peoples, the Arawaks, were
wiped out by European diseases
and became replaced with West Africans.
What happened after slavery in the Caribbean?
After the abolition of slavery most available work was on the very same plantations that former enslaved people had worked on; the wages were low, and people had inadequate rights to land.
Rent and taxes were high
, as was unemployment.
Who was the worst plantation owner?
| Stephen Duncan | Education Dickinson College | Occupation Plantation owner, banker |
|---|
What did Caribbean slaves eat?
The slaves’ diet consisted of a mix of traditional African foods brought over to the Caribbean (including
okra, blackeyed peas, saltfish, ackee, mangos, kidney beans and rice
), vegetables and fruits native to the Caribbean (such as papaya, yams, guavas and cassava).
How long did slavery last in the Caribbean?
It was not
until 1 August 1834
that slavery ended in the British Caribbean
Where did Caribbean slaves come from?
The majority of all people enslaved in the New World came from
West Central Africa
. Before 1519, all Africans carried into the Atlantic disembarked at Old World ports, mainly Europe and the offshore Atlantic islands.
How long did slaves live?
As a result of this high infant and childhood death rate, the average life expectancy of a
slave at birth was just 21 or 22 years
, compared to 40 to 43 years for antebellum whites. Compared to whites, relatively few slaves lived into old age.
When were slaves first brought to the Caribbean?
Slave imports to the islands of the Caribbean began in
the early 16th century
.
Was there slavery in Jamaica?
The sugar industry was labour-intensive and the British brought
hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans to Jamaica
. By 1832, the median-size plantation in Jamaica had about 150 slaves, and nearly one of every four bondsmen lived on units that had at least 250 slaves.
Is slavery still legal in some countries?
In the 21st Century,
almost every country has legally abolished chattel slavery
, but the number of people currently enslaved around the world is far greater than the number of slaves during the historical Atlantic slave trade. … It is estimated that around 90,000 people (over 2% of Mauritania’s population) are slaves.
What was the largest plantation in America?
| Nottoway Plantation House | Added to NRHP June 6, 1980 |
|---|
What state owned the most slaves?
New York
had the greatest number, with just over 20,000. New Jersey had close to 12,000 slaves.
How much did slaves get paid?
Wages varied across time and place but self-hire slaves could command between
$100 a year
(for unskilled labour in the early 19th century) to as much as $500 (for skilled work in the Lower South in the late 1850s).
