The Atlantic slave trade: how it worked and what it did to millions of people

Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Voices, resistance and the end (cards A to D; quotations are exact, other text is in our words). Card A, Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative (London, 1789), volume I, chapter 2. Equiano wrote that he was kidnapped as a child in West Africa: "One day, when all our people were gone out to their works as usual, and only I and my dear sister were left to mind the house, two men and a woman got over our walls, and in a moment seized us both, and, without giving us time to cry out, or make resistance, they stopped our mouths, and ran off with us into the nearest wood." Some historians question where Equiano was born, because two records from his life name South Carolina; others accept his own account, and the question is still debated. Card B, the same book, volume II, chapter 7, after Equiano bought his freedom: "…before night, I who had been a slave in the morning, trembling at the will of another, was become my own master, and completely free. I thought this was the happiest day I had ever experienced…" Card C, a timeline from museum, archive and State Department pages. 1791 to 1804: the Haitian Revolution, a revolt of enslaved people, creates the second independent country in the Americas. 1807: Britain's Parliament ends its slave trade, though about a quarter of all the people enslaved were carried across the Atlantic after this date. January 1, 1808: the United States bans bringing in enslaved people, but buying and selling inside the country goes on. 1833 to 1838: slavery ends in the British colonies, freeing 800,000 people in the Caribbean. Brazil ended slavery in 1888, the last country in the Western world to do so. Card D, a note on resistance: it took many forms, including keeping traditions alive, escaping, plotting uprisings, and revolts on some ships, after which some voyages were turned aside.

2. 1.

   Card A is Equiano's own words, published in London in 1789. What kind of source is it, Ren asks?

   • A first-hand account of his life, written years later to persuade readers
   • A merchant's ledger, kept during the voyage to count profit
   • A later historian's summary, written after the trade had ended in Britain
   • An unreliable story, since a source written years later has nothing to teach us
3. 2.

   How does card B change the picture of the trade that a merchant's ledger gives, Zee asks?

   • It shows how many people were carried across the Atlantic each year
   • It gives the view of a person who was enslaved, which ledgers of profit leave out
   • It replaces the ledger, because one person's view is a full account of the whole trade
   • It shows the ledger was wrong about prices
4. 3.

   Card C lists the Haitian Revolution. What does it suggest about how slavery ended, Ari asks?

   • Enslaved people accepted slavery until laws were passed to end it for them in Britain
   • Their revolt caused Britain's 1807 law, so lawmakers had no other reasons for it
   • Their revolt ended slavery across the whole of the Americas at once
   • Enslaved people's own revolt created a new country, not just lawmakers' laws
5. 4.

   Card C says Britain ended its slave trade in 1807 and that slavery ended in its colonies in 1833 to 1838. How many years after the trade ended did slavery end, Bo asks?

   • Exactly 26 years, since slavery ended in 1833 for people in the British colonies
   • Between 44 and 49 years, counted from the book of 1789 and not from the law of 1807
   • Between 260 and 310 years, since 1833 minus 1807 is 260 and so on
   • Between 26 and 31 years, since 1833 minus 1807 is 26 and 1838 minus 1807 is 31
6. 5.

   A student writes, "The slave trade ended in 1807." Which part of card C challenges this, Esme asks?

   • The Haitian Revolution began in 1791, so the trade had already ended there before 1807
   • About a quarter of those carried crossed after 1807, and the US ban came in 1808
   • Britain's 1807 law bans each country from the trade, so the date holds
   • Slavery ended in 1838, so the trade must have ended that year too
7. 6.

   Why does the place and date of card A, London in 1789, matter for its purpose, Kira asks?

   • He published for British readers while the trade was still legal
   • He published to explain the Haitian Revolution to British readers in London
   • He published after the trade had ended, to record a finished chapter
   • He published just for merchants, to show them how to run voyages for profit
8. 7.

   Card B says Equiano was "trembling at the will of another" before he was free. What does the wording show, Luz asks?

   • He describes slavery as an ordinary job from which he was given a free day each week
   • He describes slavery as living at another's will, and freedom as being his own master
   • He describes how he planned the Haitian Revolution
   • He describes freedom as a reward for obeying his master
9. 8.

   A student writes, "By 1838 slavery was over everywhere in the Americas." Which part of card C challenges this, Milo asks?

   • The US ban of 1808 shows slavery ended in the United States in 1808
   • Brazil ended slavery in 1888, the last country in the Western world to do so
   • Slavery ended in the British colonies, so the claim about the whole of the Americas is true
   • The Haitian Revolution ended in 1804, so slavery had ended in Haiti
10. 9.

    Using card C, which statement about change over time is best supported, Noah asks?

    • Laws against the trade stopped shipments of people after 1808
    • Lawmakers alone changed things, since card C lists just laws
    • Slavery ended first in British colonies, and the laws against the trade came decades later in Britain and the United States
    • Laws against the trade came first, in 1807 and 1808, and slavery ended in British colonies later
11. 10.

    Which new source would best help Pia test whether people resisted during the Middle Passage?

    • Records of voyages turned aside after revolts, read with the ship's log
    • A list of plantation crops grown in the Caribbean in later years
    • A map of the Atlantic currents and winds that the ships used to cross
    • A museum page that repeats card D's list of resistance in new words