People became slaves through capture, debt, and punishment: 1) Many slaves were prisoners of war or kidnapped by rival tribes. Some broke laws and were sold as punishment or to pay off debts. 2) African middlemen and slave hunters captured and sold fellow Africans for profit or to European traders on the coast. 3) The captured were forced to march to coastal slave factories where they endured poor conditions for months before being transported by ship to the Americas.

1. Becoming a slave

2. Today’s lesson
We are developing our knowledge of how African natives
became enslaved as part of the Atlantic Slave Trade
Today will be able to:
1) Describe the different reasons that people became slaves.
2) Describe the organisation of the slave trade including the role of
slave factories in Africa.
Today’s lesson will involve:
1) Note taking
2) National 5 level question

3. The Big Question
Millions of Africans were sent over in
ships to the Americas between the 16th
to the 19th century – however the
question we must ask ourselves is why
did these people end up becoming
slaves?
In particular looking at the role of both
Europeans and Africans in the
obtaining of slaves.
What do you think is
happening in this picture?

4. How did people become slaves?
Take a new mind-map with the following title in the middle.
How did people become slaves?

5. How did people become slaves?
The role of early Europeans
When slavery first started Europeans would sail to the west coast of Africa
and go about capturing slaves. This although did work did require quite a bit
of European manpower and money.
African middlemen
African businessmen or ‘middlemen’ began to sell Africans to other groups.
This made tribes such as the Ashanti and Fante become very rich.
There were many reasons why these African middlemen sold their fellow
Africans. These include:
1. Many slaves were prisoners of war, sold by the winning side.
2. Other slaves were simply kidnapped by rival tribes.
3. Some Africans who broke the law were sold as punishment.
4. Some Africans were sold to pay off a debt.
Do you think any
of these reasons
are unfair?

6. How did people become slaves?
Slave hunters
Gangs of slave hunters would hunt down fellow
Africans to be sold into slavery. Many saw it as a
way of making easy money. Most of these
hunters lived on the west coast of Africa so
many tribes moved inland to avoid them.
How would you feel living in Africa
during this time?

7. After being captured
The Journey
When captured kidnapped Africans often faced a long and difficult walk back to the coast,
while kidnappers and slave hunters travelled on horses.
This was a long walk in extremely hot weather, in which enslaved Africans had to wear
chains to stop them running away. Many of them died on this journey.
Slave factories
When captured many enslaved Africans were sent to ‘slave factories’ which were found on
the African coast. These were where slaves were held before going onto the ships in the
Americas. They were run by a factor.
Conditions in the factories were very poor and slaves were expected to work doing tasks
such as growing food in the factories. They could also be held for months at a time.
Disease was also common and in the 1770s over half of the slaves died before being
transported.
After time in the factories many were sent on ships to the Americas.

8. Task 1
Watch the following clip and add to your notes on slave factories.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIwyQVrrOOo

9. National 5 level question
1) Describe the different ways that people became slaves