16 The British Empire and the Slave Trade by Charley Lethlean
Mapping the Slave Trade
Slave trade routeby by Schneider and Schneider (2014) (CC BY-SA 4.0)
| Curriculum context | VCE Empires, Unit 1, Area of Study 2 (VCAA, 2020) |
| Historical context | British Empire (1583–1788): “the economic exchanges between the empire and its new territories and colonies, such as new resources and goods, systems of trade, markets, mercantilism, corruption, slave trade, plantations and systems of agriculture, industrial change, foods and medicines” (VCCA, 2020) |
| Historical thinking concept | Ask and use historical questions |
| Learning intentions | To understand and solidify knowledge on the experience, ideas, routes and slaves/slave owners journey throughout the middle passage.
To explore the economic exchange of the slave trade and other aspects connecting to it. To analyse and evaluate through research the impact the slave trade had on the British Empire’s economy.
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Activity
You will create a poster in pairs, with 2 parts. Part 1 is a detailed map of slave trade routes during the reign of the British empire and Part 2 is the text to accompany the map for context on the slave trade including the ‘Who, What, When and Why’.
You will be placed into pairs and given an A2 poster. On this poster you must include a map (that is at least the size of an A4 sheet of paper) and an accompanying text (that answers all points in part 2) to display your knowledge on the trade routes, economic purpose, and the volume of the slave trade during the British Empire (1583–1788). On the back of the poster you will place a reference list of at least 6 sources.
You may use https://www.slavevoyages.org as a reference for research.
PART 1: Map of slave trade routes
Your map should….
- comply with B.O.L.T.S.S; border, orientation, legend, title, scale, and source (sources to go in references)
- label countries and colonies clearly and correctly
- include only routes of trade from the time of the British Empire (1583–1788)
- include the estimated number of people that were trafficked from each route and from where to where (his can be placed next to the map with annotations)
- include other goods that were transported at that time, e.g. tobacco, cotton, sugar
PART 2: Accompanying text
The text should…
- address the ‘Who, What, When and Why’ of the slave trade
- explain what the middle passage is
- explain the economic purpose of the slave trade and the impact it had on the British Empire’s economy
- address the slave trade routes that were taken
- address the distance and time it took to complete routes of transatlantic slave trade
- address how many people were estimated to be trafficked
- address which countries/colonies slaves were taken from and where they went
- explain what else besides slaves were taken on those voyages and what economic value they had
References
Slave Voyages. (2021). https://www.slavevoyages.org/
VCAA. (2020). VCE Study Design: History 2022-2026. Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/curriculum/vce/vce-study-designs/history/Pages/index.aspx
