Three corners
Open the map in 1700, turn on Trade Routes and zoom out over the Atlantic. Follow the Atlantic Triangular Trade from Europe to West Africa, across to the Americas and back. What travelled on each leg?
Open this view on the mapAtlantic world · 1500s-1700s
The Atlantic slave trade and the Americas
Over more than three centuries, about 12.5 million Africans were forced onto ships bound for the Americas. Students look at where they came from and where they were taken, the plantations their labour built, and the many ways enslaved people resisted and kept their cultures alive.
- Length
- 50 minutes
- Ages
- 13–16
- On the map
- 3 steps, AD 1700 to AD 1715
- Live lesson
- 7 rounds, 3 on the map
- Worksheet
- Two A4 pages, with Classroom
- You need
- A projector; phones for live
Live lesson · new in Classroom
Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.
Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.
€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.
- 7 rounds
- 3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
- About 15 minutes
- Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
- A report
- Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
Introduction
5 minRead aloud
Over more than three centuries, about 12.5 million Africans were forced onto ships bound for the Americas. Students look at where they came from and where they were taken, the plantations their labour built, and the many ways enslaved people resisted and kept their cultures alive.
By the end of the lesson, students can
- Describe the scale and the main routes of the Atlantic slave trade to the Americas.
- Explain why Brazil and the Caribbean received most enslaved Africans.
- Give examples of resistance and cultural survival among enslaved Africans and their descendants.
Explore the map
15 minProject the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.
Sugar islands
Jump to 1715 and zoom in on the Caribbean. Count the islands labelled as British, French, Spanish, Dutch or Danish colonies. Most of them grew sugar with enslaved labour. Why did small islands matter so much to Europe?
Open this view on the mapAfrica's side
Zoom out over the coast of West and West Central Africa. Enslaved people came from many societies, among them Akan, Yoruba, Igbo, Kongo and Mbundu. Why is it important to name them rather than only say "Africans"?
Open this view on the mapClass discussion
15 minPick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.
- About 12.5 million people were forced onto ships, and about 10.7 million survived the crossing. What does the difference tell you about the Middle Passage?
- Almost half of all enslaved Africans brought to the Americas went to Brazil, and fewer than one in twenty to mainland North America. Why the difference?
- African rulers and merchants sold captives to European traders. How should we discuss the responsibility of each group?
- Enslaved people resisted by escaping, rebelling, working slowly and keeping their faiths and languages. Why does every form of resistance count?
- Music, food, religion and words from Africa shape the Americas today. Name an example and where it came from.
Game round
10 minPlay one round of Rule History as Elizabeth I. In the 1560s she invested in the slaving voyages of John Hawkins, one of the first English traders in enslaved Africans. Afterwards, discuss carefully: what responsibility do rulers and investors carry for a trade they never see?
Open Rule HistoryWorksheet
5 minThis worksheet comes with Classroom
€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.