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

Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Why the trade grew (cards A to D; summaries in our words). Card A, Royal Museums Greenwich, a museum's history page for the public: in the triangular trade, ships carried trade goods from European ports such as London, Bristol and Liverpool to West Africa, enslaved African people across the Atlantic to the Americas, and sugar, tobacco and cotton back to Europe. Ships sailed with full holds on every stage, which made merchants rich. Nearly two-thirds of enslaved people were forced to work on sugar plantations. Card B, the same museum page: the law treated enslaved people as property, called chattels, and denied them the right to live and move as they chose. Powerful African rulers traded captives for goods such as beads and cloth, but demand from Europe was far greater and made the trade grow. Card C, SlaveVoyages estimates of who carried people: ships sailing under the Portuguese or Brazilian flag carried about 5.8 million people, and British ships about 3.3 million. Card D, the same museum page: British ships carried about 3.4 million people between 1640 and 1807.

2. 1.

   Using cards A and B, which chain of causes best explains why the trade grew, Luz asks?

   • Europe wanted sugar, tobacco and cotton, so plantations needed workers and merchants supplied them
   • African demand for beads and cloth was greater than Europe's demand, so African rulers began the trade
   • The law that made people property began the trade, and demand for crops played no part in it
   • Merchants shipped captives first, which then created Europe's taste for sugar and tobacco
3. 2.

   Card A follows ships, goods and profits. Whose experience does it leave out, Milo asks?

   • Merchants in Bristol, since the card names just London and Liverpool as ports
   • The captives' own, since the card follows ships, goods and merchants' profit
   • No one's, because a card about full ships and profit covers the whole trade
   • Farmers in Europe, since the card does not name the crops they bought
4. 3.

   Cards A, B and D come from a museum's history page for the public. How should Noah treat them as evidence?

   • As a record made during the trade, so it is more reliable than modern research
   • As worthless evidence, because the museum writers did not live in the 1700s
   • As the final word on the trade, so that no other source is needed
   • As a modern summary for the public, to check against records and other studies
5. 4.

   Card C says Portuguese and Brazilian ships carried about 5.8 million people and British ships about 3.3 million. How many more did Portuguese and Brazilian ships carry, Pia asks?

   • About 2.5 million more, since 5.8 minus 3.3 is 2.5
   • About 25 million more, since 5.8 minus 3.3 is 25
   • About 9.1 million more, since 5.8 plus 3.3 is 9.1
   • About 3.3 million more, the number British ships carried
6. 5.

   Card C gives about 3.3 million for British ships and card D gives about 3.4 million. What does this show, Ren asks?

   • The sources conflict, so historians cannot say that British ships carried millions
   • The estimates are close, which supports about 3.3 to 3.4 million, though neither is exact
   • The museum's number must be right and the database's wrong, since the museum's is the bigger one
   • The gap means one source miscounted, so neither number can be used
7. 6.

   A student writes, "African rulers caused the trade to grow." Which reading of card B tests this claim best, Tala asks?

   • Rulers traded captives for goods, so the growth of the trade came from the choices that rulers made
   • The law treated people as property, so rulers had no real choices to make in the trade
   • Rulers took part by trading captives, but demand from Europe was far greater and drove growth
   • Rulers took no part in the trade, so the claim has no support anywhere in the card
8. 7.

   A new study finds British ships carried 3.1 million rather than 3.4 million. What should Bo conclude?

   • Historians cannot say that British ships carried millions, since the number has now changed
   • Estimates are revised as records are studied, but British ships still carried millions
   • The museum's numbers are now wrong, so the cards can no longer be used as evidence
   • The new number must be right, because a newer study beats an older one on the same topic
9. 8.

   Card A says ships sailed with full holds on every stage. How does that help explain merchants' profits, Esme asks?

   • Full holds show that people carried on each stage were paid workers
   • Empty return trips lowered costs, so merchants earned most on the leg out to Africa from Europe
   • Full holds meant fewer ships sank, so the cost of insurance was nothing
   • No stage was empty, so a ship earned money from goods sold at each end of a crossing
10. 9.

    Which claim do all four cards support, Jun asks?

    • African rulers alone drove the trade, since card B says they traded captives
    • British ships carried most of the people across the Atlantic, since card D gives them 3.4 million
    • The trade was just a business matter, since card A follows ships and profit
    • Demand, profit and law worked together, and ships of several nations carried millions
11. 10.

    Which new source would best help Kira test card B's claim that Europe's demand grew the trade?

    • A modern essay that repeats card B's sentence about demand in new words for the reader
    • A list of ship names from a single port in one year, 1780, for one route
    • Records of Europe's sugar, tobacco and cotton purchases, set beside voyage numbers
    • A map showing the route of the Middle Passage across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa