New
New
Year 8

British involvement in Transatlantic Slave Trade

I can explain the role of Britain in the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

New
New
Year 8

British involvement in Transatlantic Slave Trade

I can explain the role of Britain in the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The British arrived in West Africa from the 1660s, with the support of King Charles II and later King James II.
  2. The arrival of the British led to more conflict between and within kingdoms in West Africa.
  3. Before enslaved labour was used on plantations, Britain used a system of indentured labour.
  4. Barbados was the most profitable colony with the growth of sugar.
  5. The British transported enslaved people to new colonies in the Caribbean, such as Jamaica and Barbados.

Keywords

  • Colonisation - the process of one person or a group of people taking control of another country or state and settling on that land

  • Plantations - areas of land on which certain crops were grown, usually using forced labour

  • Enslaved people - people who have been forced to work, lose their freedom and become the property of another person

  • Indentured labour - a system where someone is made to work without pay for a set period of time

  • Slave holder - someone who owned an enslaved person

Common misconception

Britain was always involved in the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Britain became involved in the trade in the 1500s, initially selling enslaved people onto plantations in Spanish and Portuguese colonies.

When explaining the arrival of the British, emphasise the varied impact on West African societies. With the example of Kongo we can see that even were rulers participated in the trade, that did not always reflect the attitudes of their people.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
The Transatlantic Slave Trade was a three point trade between Europe, the Americas and ...
Correct Answer: West Africa, Africa
Q2.
By 1600, which European nation had captured and sold over 150,000 African people into slavery in their American colonies?
Correct answer: Portugal
Spain
Britain
France
Q3.
Elmina Castle was built in 1482 and was used to hold goods to trade and then later enslaved people; where was it built?
Gold Coast, Brazil
Correct answer: Gold Coast, West Africa
Gold Coast, Portugal
Q4.
Which kingdom's rulers, known as Obas, refused to sell their people into slavery, despite continuing trade with Europeans?
Correct answer: Benin
Songhay
Mali
Kongo
Q5.
By the late 1600s, which group of local people in West Africa were no longer protected from being enslaved?
prisoners of war
Correct answer: wealthier people
the Obas
Q6.
Which of the following kingdoms is an example of a kingdom that suffered because of their alliance with European merchants?
Mali
Correct answer: Kongo
Wolof
Benin

6 Questions

Q1.
Who arrived in the Caribbean for the first time in 1492, claiming land for Spain?
King Ferdinand
King Charles II
Sir Walter Raleigh
Correct answer: Christopher Columbus
Q2.
Match each word to the correct definition.
Correct Answer:colonisation,the process of one country taking control of another

the process of one country taking control of another

Correct Answer:plantation,land on which crops were grown, usually using forced labour

land on which crops were grown, usually using forced labour

Correct Answer:enslaved people,someone forced to become the legal property of someone else

someone forced to become the legal property of someone else

Correct Answer:slaveholder,someone who owned an enslaved person

someone who owned an enslaved person

Q3.
Which of the following countries had begun colonising the Americas by the early 1500s?
Italy
Correct answer: Spain
Correct answer: Portugal
Germany
Q4.
Which uninhabited island did 80 British colonists settle on in 1627?
St Kitts
Jamaica
Correct answer: Barbados
Haiti
Q5.
Which of the following is the best definition of 'indentured labour'?
Correct answer: a system where someone is made to work without pay for a set period of time
a system where someone is made to work without pay indefinitely
a system where someone is made the legal property of someone else
Q6.
Which of the following is the best definition of 'slave society'?
a society made entirely of formerly enslaved people
Correct answer: a society structured around a system of slave holders and enslaved people
a society whose main aim is to abolish slavery

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