Notes
The transatlantic slave trade
- Between the 1500s and 1800s, about 12.5 million Africans were forced onto ships; about 10.7 million survived the Middle Passage. Most went to Brazil and the Caribbean; about 400,000 went directly to North America.
- The voyage was brutal: crowding, disease and violence. Enslaved people resisted through revolts on ships, refusing food, and other acts.
Slavery in the Americas
- Chattel slavery in the colonies made enslaved people property, and status passed from mother to child (Virginia's 1662 law, partus sequitur ventrem).
- Slave codes restricted movement, education and gatherings.
- The domestic slave trade expanded after 1808, when the U.S. banned importing enslaved people; families were often separated by sale.
- Enslaved people built communities, families and cultures, blending African traditions with new ones in music, religion (including spirituals) and food.
Resistance
- Everyday resistance: working slowly, breaking tools, keeping cultural practices, and learning to read in secret.
- Escape: maroon communities, the Underground Railroad (Harriet Tubman).
- Revolts: the Stono Rebellion (1739), Gabriel's planned revolt (1800), the German Coast Uprising (1811), Denmark Vesey's planned revolt (1822), and Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831).
- The Haitian Revolution (1791–1804) inspired enslaved people and frightened enslavers.
Abolitionism
- Black abolitionists led the fight: Frederick Douglass (his Narrative, 1845), Sojourner Truth, David Walker's Appeal (1829), and Henry Highland Garnet.
- The Fugitive Slave Act (1850) and the Dred Scott decision (1857) showed how the law protected slavery.
- Free Black communities in the North built churches, schools and mutual aid societies (the African Methodist Episcopal Church).
Practice
It was the middle leg of the triangular trade.
This made slavery hereditary through the mother.
They formed in hard-to-reach areas like swamps and mountains.
She made many trips back to the South.
Fear led to tighter control.
He escaped slavery and became a leading abolitionist.
It was banned and feared in the South.
About 400,000 went directly to North America.
Free response
Write your answer first, then open the scoring guide.
Free-response question
Answer (a), (b) and (c).
(a) Describe ONE form of everyday resistance by enslaved people.
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Working slowly, breaking tools, or secretly learning to read and preserving African cultural practices like music and storytelling.
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(b) Explain ONE reason enslaved people formed strong communities and families despite slavery.
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Communities and family ties gave support, shared culture and hope, helping people survive the violence of slavery and pass down traditions.
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(c) Explain ONE way Black abolitionists contributed to the fight against slavery.
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Frederick Douglass's writings and speeches gave firsthand evidence of slavery's cruelty, persuading Northerners to support abolition.
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