Types of Plantations

 Rich land-owners planted a variety of crops such as coffee, rice, sugar cane, and
tobacco.
 Virginia was exploited for its tobacco production.
 During the XIX century, the southern US produced much cotton. Slavery had made
the U.S. South incredibly prosperous since it was producing over 75% of the
world’s cotton.
 In South Carolina, the most successful plantations were those producing rice,
and they employed huge populations of slaves. The rice plantations grew into
large estates, and rice started dominating the economy of South Carolina
because of its exports.
Slave Codes

The colonies established laws regarding slaves called slave codes. Some of these laws
detailed the punishment for slaves who tried to escape. Other slave codes made it
illegal to teach a slave to read, to help a slave to hide, and to pay for a slave to work.
Slaves were not allowed to have weapons, leave their owner's plantation, or lift their
hand against a white person.

The Black slaves that worked in the fields, as well as the ones who served in households
received a subhuman treatment. They were forced to work up to eighteen hours per day,
including the weekends (they did not have a day in which they could rest), children over six
years old were forced to work as well.

As a consequence, importing slaves from Africa became a ‘morally, legally and socially
acceptable’ trend, giving way to a new type of industry: the slave trade and the ‘slave
auction’.

When did slavery begin in the Americas?

The first slaves in the American colonies arrived on a Dutch ship in Jamestown, Virginia
in 1619. Over the next 200 years, around 600,000 more slaves were brought to the
American colonies, most of them to work the tobacco and cotton fields.

Where did the slaves come from?

Slaves were brought over from the continent of Africa. Most of them came from the
west coast of Africa where the main ports for the slave trade existed. The conditions
on the slave ships were terrible. Often slaves were "packed" tightly in the ship's hold (a
space for carrying cargo in the ship's compartment) where they were chained up and
unable to move. Many slaves died during the trip due to disease and starvation.
ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE

Look at the triangular slave route stages during the Atlantic slave trade.

What are the consequences of the Atlantic slave trade for Africa? Analyze the
situation and think of 3 possible consequences.