The+Slaves



=History of the Slaves: =
 * The Portuguese were the first to embark upon the slave trade starting around 1562.
 * A prime area for slaves was on the west coast of Africa called the Sudan.
 * The peoples inhabiting those African countries - Ghana, Mali, and Songhai - were kn own for their skills in agriculture, farming, and mining.
 * The Africans were famous for their cast bronze art works.
 *  The main sources of barter used by the Europeans to secure African slaves were glass beads, whiskey, ivory, and guns.
 * In 1619 the first Africans were brought to Jamestown.
 * They were called indentured servants.
 * During the very early period of Virginia's history, black Africans and poor whites shared a similar status.
 * The slaves were so valuable to the open market - they were eventually called "Black Gold."
 * The rising demand for sugar, coffee, cotton, and tobacco created a greater demand for slaves by other slave trading countries.
 * The slave trade was so profitable that, by 1672, the Royal African Company chartered by Charles II of England superseded the other traders and became the richest shipper of human slaves to the mainland of the Americas.