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Unit 1 Slaves for Plantations
Reading Comprehension
Slaves for Plantations
From the late 1500s to the early 1800s, European nations ran a huge
number of plantations, farms that relied on slave labor, in the New World.
While this took place in almost every European colony, it was most common
in Caribbean islands like the Bahamas. It was on these islands then the
European ran their sugar cane plantations. Highly profitable for the plantation
owners, sugar cane was the backbone of the slave economy, but it took a
terrible toll on the African slaves who actually did the work. For a slave, being
sent to a sugar plantation was practically a death sentence.
To make up for the high death rate among their slaves, the Europeans had
to constantly bring new slaves from Africa. This led to one of the most
horrible aspects of slavery in the Americas, The Middle Passage. After slaves
were bought or captured in Africa, they had to be transported by ship to the
Americas. This trip was known as the Middle Passage.
Packed side by side on a slave ship, the slaves were kept in chains for the
entire duration of the trip, which could last anywhere from one to six months
depending on the weather. They were fed just enough food to keep them
alive. This served two purposes. Not only did it allow slave traders to keep
their costs down, the near starvation of the slaves also kept them so weak
that they had little chance of resisting during the Middle Passage. Under such
horrible conditions, it is not surprising that the death rate on the Middle
Passage was often higher than the death rate on the plantations themselves.
It is estimated that of the 20 million slaves taken from Africa, nearly half of
them died before they ever reached the Americas.
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Reading Comprehension
Slaves for Plantations
From the late 1500s to the early 1800s, European nations ran a huge
number of plantations, farms that relied on slave labor, in the New World.
While this took place in almost every European colony, it was most common
in Caribbean islands like the Bahamas. It was on these islands then the
European ran their sugar cane plantations. Highly profitable for the plantation
owners, sugar cane was the backbone of the slave economy, but it took a
terrible toll on the African slaves who actually did the work. For a slave, being
sent to a sugar plantation was practically a death sentence.
To make up for the high death rate among their slaves, the Europeans had
to constantly bring new slaves from Africa. This led to one of the most
horrible aspects of slavery in the Americas, The Middle Passage. After slaves
were bought or captured in Africa, they had to be transported by ship to the
Americas. This trip was known as the Middle Passage.
Packed side by side on a slave ship, the slaves were kept in chains for the
entire duration of the trip, which could last anywhere from one to six months
depending on the weather. They were fed just enough food to keep them
alive. This served two purposes. Not only did it allow slave traders to keep
their costs down, the near starvation of the slaves also kept them so weak
that they had little chance of resisting during the Middle Passage. Under such
horrible conditions, it is not surprising that the death rate on the Middle
Passage was often higher than the death rate on the plantations themselves.
It is estimated that of the 20 million slaves taken from Africa, nearly half of
them died before they ever reached the Americas.
-4-
