Slavery : resources from Awesome Stories : Black History Month

It's "African-American History Month" in the U.S.

You can freely use AwesomeStories' vast archive to explore the topic throughout February.    

We will feature various topics, starting with:

How the Slave Trade Began

Triangle-Trade and Slavery in "The New World"

The Middle Passage

When Parliament Abolished the Slave Trade 

Did Africa have a version of slavery before the slave trade?

How did the technology of new ships lead to slave-trading?

How, and when, did the slave-trade begin?

What happened to people in the African slave markets?

What devices did slavers use on kidnapped Africans?

Members of Parliament, who wanted to perpetuate the slave trade, told stories about how well-off kidnapped Africans were on their long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. Their claims, however, were debunked with actual evidence gathered by investigators who exposed the truth about what was known as "The Middle Passage."

What was the Triangle Trade?

What was the Middle Passage Myth?

What was the Middle Passage Realty?

How were Africans maintained during the Atlantic crossing?

What unimaginable horrors did people endure on the ships?

Some of the transatlantic crossings were treacherous. According to evidence presented at the privy council, the average loss of life for captured Africans - during each voyage - was about 12 1/2 percent. Another 4 1/2 percent died when they reached the shore of the "New World." These numbers do not include the percentage of people who died after they were captured. 

What was it like to be a slave trader?

What was the tragedy of the "Zong Affair?"

How did the Zong Affair help to end the slave trade?

When Africans arrived in the "New World," including America, they became forced laborers on plantations.

Initially, in the American South, cotton was not "king." A key invention, however, changed that - with dramatically worse consequences for African-American slaves.

How did Eli Whitney's invention cause slavery's expansion?

What happened to slaves when they reached America?

Were any slaves bought/sold in Washington, the U.S. capital?

Did Slaves Help to Build the White House

Who tried to get Parliament to end the slave-trade?

How hard is it to overthrow laws that allow immoral actions?

How did a PR-campaign help to change the slave-trade law?

What speech exposed the hypocrisy and immorality of the slave trade?

What caused William Wilberforce to bow his head and weep?

What is possible when a young person starts a movement?

In addition to African-American History Month,

February, 2018, marks the 211th anniversary of Parliament's abolishing the unjust slave-trade law.