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

Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Counting the trade (cards A to C; summaries in our words). Card A, the SlaveVoyages database: historians built an open online database from ship records and other documents, so that anyone can search it. It estimates that about 12.5 million people were forced onto ships in Africa from the 1500s to 1866. Of those who reached the Americas, about 95 percent were taken to the Caribbean and South America, and less than 4 percent to North America. Card B, a Rice University news story (February 25, 2019): a writer for the university reports what historian Daniel Domingues says. Some 12 million people were forced onto ships, about 10 million arrived in the Americas, and about 2 million lost their lives during the crossing, called the Middle Passage. Brazil alone received about 4.9 million people from 1501 to 1866. Card C, a note on records: no one counted every voyage. Many voyage records are missing or incomplete, and many of the records that survive were kept by the merchants who ran the trade, to track money and goods. So every total is an estimate, and studies give slightly different totals, about 12 to 12.5 million.

2. 1.

   Ari opens card A. Who made this database, and from what?

   • A government office that published its own count to defend the trade
   • A ship captain in the 1700s, writing the totals down as the voyages sailed
   • A news writer, retelling what a historian said for readers of a university site
   • Historians, working from ship records and other documents about the voyages
3. 2.

   Bo compares cards A and B. How is card B different as a source?

   • It is a weak source, because a news writer rather than a trained historian wrote it for readers
   • It is a news story retelling a historian's findings, one step away from the records
   • It is the original voyage record, written by the people who ran the ships
   • It is a table of exact counts, taken voyage by voyage as ships left Africa
4. 3.

   Esme sees that card A says 12.5 million and card B says some 12 million were forced onto ships. What does the close match show?

   • The true number is certainly 12.25 million, halfway between the two cards
   • One card must be wrong, since sources that differ cannot both be trusted
   • Nothing, because totals that differ by half a million cannot be compared with each other
   • The totals support each other, though both may rest on the same voyage records
5. 4.

   A student writes, "Exactly 12 million people were forced onto ships." Which card most directly challenges the word "exactly", Jun asks?

   • Card C, which says records are missing, so every total is an estimate
   • Card B, which says about 10 million arrived, so 12 million must be too high
   • No card, because a database and a news story that agree make the number exact
   • Card A, which says about 95 percent were taken to the Caribbean and South America
6. 5.

   Luz reads that less than 4 percent went to North America (card A). Using card B's 10 million arrivals, fewer than about how many people is that?

   • Fewer than about 9.6 million, the number left after taking 4 percent away
   • Fewer than about 40,000, since 4 percent of 10 million is 40,000
   • Fewer than about 400,000, since 4 percent of 10 million is 400,000
   • Fewer than about 4 million, since 4 percent of 10 million is 4 million
7. 6.

   Card C says studies give slightly different totals. What most likely causes the differences, Milo asks?

   • Each team counts a different ocean, such as just the voyages that went to Brazil
   • Teams fill the gaps left by missing records in different ways
   • Merchants wrote false records on purpose, so no team can learn anything from them
   • The records hold two different totals, so each team picks one at random
8. 7.

   Card C says merchants kept many of the records. What should Noah keep in mind when using them?

   • They were kept to track money and goods, so they say little about the captives themselves
   • They are the main source for how farmers in Europe grew sugar and cotton
   • They cannot be used by historians, since people who ran the trade would not write anything true
   • They give the whole story, because the people who ran the trade knew it well
9. 8.

   Historians find a trader's ledger for a voyage the database did not list. What is the likely effect on card A's estimate, Ren asks?

   • It must fall, because a new record shows the earlier counts were too high
   • It becomes an exact count, because the new ledger fills the gap in the records
   • The estimate may rise a little, because one more voyage can now be counted
   • No change, because a database is complete once it is published online for anyone to use
10. 9.

    Card A is an open database anyone can search. What does that choice suggest about its makers' purpose, Tala asks?

    • They want to show that no one needs to read the original voyage records
    • They want to sell the records to museums and libraries for a fee
    • They want others to check the records and the estimates for themselves
    • They want just trained historians to read it, so it is hard to find
11. 10.

    Card B says Brazil received about 4.9 million people from 1501 to 1866. About how many people a year is that on average, Zee asks?

    • About 1,300 a year, since 4.9 million divided by 365 years is about 1,300
    • About 13,000 a year, since 4.9 million divided by 365 years is about 13,000
    • About 2,600 a year, since 4.9 million divided by 1,866 years is about 2,600
    • About 130,000 a year, since 4.9 million divided by 365 years is about 130,000