Origins of Enslavement

Learning Objectives

Essentials

Learning Objectives

LO 2.1.A

Explain the significance of the roles ladinos played as the first Africans to arrive in the territory that became the United States.

LO 2.1.B

Describe the diverse roles Africans played during colonization of the Americas in the sixteenth century.

Essentials

Terms

Ladinos
Atlantic Creoles
Conquistadores
Colonialism

Places/Geography

La Florida

People

Juan Garrido
Estevanico (Esteban)

Required Sources

You will need to understand and be able to use these materials for the AP exam.

A handwritten document in cursive in Spanish

1538

Read the narrative of a Congolese man’s experience in Mexico with the Spanish conquistadors.

Primary Source

A detail from a watercolor image showing a Black man in gray sixteenth-century dress holding a pony's reins and a spear; in front of him is a taller White man in red and orange pantaloons and jacket, carrying a helmet with a feather

Juan Garrido on a Spanish Expedition

1579

View this image that is believed to be Garrido alongside Hernán Cortés.

Primary Source

Additional Resources

You can further develop your knowledge of this topic with primary and secondary sources.

A stereoscope card of a field of sisal fibers with a house in the background leading to a Mexican pyramid.

Diverse Roles of Africans in Early American Colonization

by Matthew Restall

Explore the ways free and enslaved Africans influenced Latin America in the sixteenth century.

Essay

Required Sources

You will need to understand and be able to use these materials for the AP exam.

A map of the world, with arrows indicating movement of enslaved people out of Africa, with varying thickness for the number of enslaved people arriving at that location.

“Overview of the Slave Trade Out of Africa, 1500–1900”

by David Eltis and David Richardson

View the varying points of departure and arrival of enslaved people.

Thematic Map

Additional Resources

You can further develop your knowledge of this topic with primary and secondary sources.

Detail from an 1805 broadside showing restraining devices used on enslaved peoples

Global Africans and Transatlantic Slaving to the United States

by Kwasi Konadu

Explore the origins of and predecessors to the transatlantic slave trade.

Essay

A photograph of a Black woman with black curly hair and large hoop earrings, wearing a blue flowered blouse and a cerulean ascot posed in front of a window.

with Brenda Stevenson

Explore how the globalization of trade propelled the business of slavery.

Video

A map of the continent of Africa from 1770 shows regions, towns, rivers, and lakes.

The Development of Slavery in the Early Modern Atlantic World

by Michael Guasco

Learn about global systems of slavery in the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries.

Essay

A broadside shows multiple diagrams of a single ship seen from different views. The views illustrate hundreds of captive Africans laying down shoulder to shoulder on multiple layers of the ship.

1788, 1789

Explore primary sources that worked as propaganda tools for the anti-slavery movement.

Guided Readings

Map of the East Coast of the United States with modern state boundaries from New Hampshire to Georgia and red dots for key cities; callout boxes provide the year slavery was legalized along with African American population numbers for 1680 and 1740 for each state.

African Americans in the 13 Colonies, 17th–18th Centuries

by Michael Siegel and Rutgers Cartography

Explore the change in the African American population over time in the colonial era.

Thematic Map

Map of the Americas with an inset map of the Caribbean and a list of countries providing the number of enslaved Africans who arrived in each country

African Arrivals in the Americas, 1501–1867

by Michael Siegel and Rutgers Cartography

Visualize the impact of the displacement of Africans resulting from the transatlantic slave trade.

Thematic Map

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Learning Objectives

Essentials

Learning Objectives

LO 2.3.A

Describe the conditions of the three-part journey enslaved Africans endured during the transatlantic slave trade.

LO 2.3.B

Explain how the transatlantic slave trade destabilized West African societies.

LO 2.3.C

Describe the key features and purposes of narratives written by formerly enslaved Africans.

Essentials

Terms

Middle Passage
Slave narratives

Required Sources

You will need to understand and be able to use these materials for the AP exam.

“On Being Brought from Africa to America”

1773

Read Phillis Wheatley’s poem on slavery and Christianity.

Primary Source

An open book with an engraved portrait of Olaudah Equiano, a Black man in distinguished eighteenth-century clothing and, on the right, the title page of his autobiography, "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano."

“The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano”

1789

Learn from Olaudah Equiano about his experience being kidnapped at age eleven and surviving the Middle Passage.

Primary Source

Additional Resources

You can further develop your knowledge of this topic with primary and secondary sources.

The Life and Work of Phillis Wheatley

with Krystal Mackie, Jeanette Providence, and Sandra Trenholm

Discover the eighteenth-century poet who was enslaved, became free, and built a lasting legacy.

Video

Map of Africa highlighting countries along the West and West Central African coast, from Senegal to Angola, plus, on the east, Mozambique and Madagascar; a bar chart for each region show how many people were enslaved in each half-century between 1600 and 1867.

Regional Origins of Enslaved Africans Destined for the Americas

by Michael Siegel and Rutgers Cartography

Examine and visualize population data from the transatlantic slave trade.

Thematic Map

1808 Engraving of the deck and hold of a slave ship illustrating how little space enslaved people had on board

1749

Scrutinize an image and a letter that address the experience of kidnapped Africans on a slave ship.

Primary Source

An engraving shows four people doing various tasks with harvested tobacco in an open shed, including pulling pieces of the leaves apart, and winding rope.

by Ira Berlin

Gain a greater understanding of the slave trade and the forced migration and diaspora of Africans.

Essay

The title page from volume 1 of Olaudah Equiano’s autobiography, The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano, published in New York in 1791

Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, a Self-Made Man

by Vincent Carretta

Explore Equiano’s life story and the influence of his autobiography on the abolitionist movement.

Essay

Phillis Wheatley, a “Genius in Bondage”

by Vincent Carretta

Explore the life, career, and legacy of the poet who was the first person of sub-Saharan African descent to publish a book.

Essay

Map of the East Coast of the United States with state boundaries from Maryland to Georgia and an inset map of Africa with bar charts associating enslaved people in four regions of North America with different regions of Africa.

Origins of Enslaved Africans in North America

by Michael Siegel and Rutgers Cartography

Explore and visualize the data connecting the populations of African descent in four regions of the East Coast of North America with regions of origin in Africa.

Thematic Map

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Required Sources

You will need to understand and be able to use these materials for the AP exam.

A diagram showing bodies packed into a ship's hold

“Stowage of the British slave ship ‘Brookes’”

1788

View this diagram, which served as a catalyst for the antislavery movement.

Primary Source

A handwritten document with a beige ribbon on top

“Plea to the Jurisdiction of Cinque and Others”

1839

Read the statement to the court on behalf of the Africans taken on the Amistad.

Primary Source

Woodblock of ironing boards that resemble slave ships.

by Willie Cole

View this work of art responding to images of slave ships.

Primary Source

William H. Townsend, Sketches of Twenty-Two of the Amistad Captives (ca. 1839–1840)

Twenty-two pencil drawings of the Amistad captives by William H. Townsend (1822–1851), ca. 1839–1840, varying in size, 18.3 x 14 cm. and smaller (Yale University Library, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library)

A drawing of a Black man looking at the sketcher

A drawing of a Black girl looking at the sketcher

Additional Resources

You can further develop your knowledge of this topic with primary and secondary sources.

Letter written in brown ink in cursive on yellowing paper.

John Quincy Adams and the Amistad Case

1840

Read a letter written by John Quincy Adams about his role in supporting the Amistad captives’ petition for freedom.

Primary Source

Learning Objectives

Essentials

Learning Objectives

LO 2.5.A

Describe the nature of slave auctions in the nineteenth-century United States South.

LO 2.5.B

Explain how African American authors advanced the causes of abolition and equality in their writings about slave auctions.

LO 2.5.C

Explain how the growth of the cotton industry in the United States displaced enslaved African American families.

Essentials

Terms

Transatlantic slave trade
Slave-Cotton system
“Second Middle Passage”

Places/Geography

Lower South
Upper South

Required Sources

You will need to understand and be able to use these materials for the AP exam.

A black-and-white engraving of Solomon Northup, a Black man wearing a white hat, shirt, and pants, sitting on a box, a broomstick leaning against his left arm. Below the image, the name Solomon Northup in handwriting and the words "In his plantation suit"

Solomon Northup Remembers the New Orleans Slave Market

1853

Read an excerpt from Northup’s autobiographical account, Twelve Years a Slave.

Primary Source

A broadside with the title "Under Decree in Equity. Sanders v. Sanders, et al." with list of enslaved people and their ages, and handwritten notes throughout

Broadside for an Auction of Enslaved Persons at the Charleston Courthouse

1859

Explore the domestic slave trade through this document listing names and ages.

Primary Source

Additional Resources

You can further develop your knowledge of this topic with primary and secondary sources.

Aged paper with text of different sizes and fonts, the top of which says, "178 Sugar and Cotton Plantation Slaves!"

Auction catalog of enslaved people from Louisiana

1855

Explore this primary source to learn about the process of buying and selling enslaved people in 1855.

Primary Source

Map of the southern United States from Texas to Maryland showing in red the main inland and seagoing routes of the internal movements of enslaved people, from New York and Philadelphia in the Northeast to Galveston, Texas, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Domestic Slave Trade, 1808–1865

by Michael Siegel and Rutgers Cartography

Explore data and geographical trends of the domestic slave trade in the nineteenth century.

Thematic Map

A woman with curly, short, black and auburn hair smiles at the camera in front of a brick background. She wears a blue top, gold hoop earrings, and glasses with black frames.

The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold to Build the American Catholic Church

with Rachel L. Swarns

Learn the story about the 272 enslaved people who were sold to fund the construction of Georgetown University.

Video

A black-and-white photograph of Frederick Douglass, a Black man in his fifties with graying hair and a serious demeanor staring straight into the camera

Frederick Douglass from Slavery to Freedom: The Journey to New York City

1818–1845

Follow the story of Frederick Douglass and his journey from slavery to freedom in New York City.

Interactive

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Featured Videos

These videos from Black History in Two Minutes (or So) feature condensed, engaging, and fact-packed stories.

Learn more about domestic forced migrations in the US.

Resources from Our Partners

We have teamed up with New American History on interactive resources exploring America’s past and harnessing the power of digital media, curiosity, and inquiry.

The Forced Migration of Enslaved People in the United States

Examine an interactive map with data related to the relocation of enslaved people between the banning of the international slave trade in 1808 and the abolition of slavery during the Civil War.

Explore Activity

Learning Objectives

Essentials

Learning Objectives

LO 2.6.A

Describe the range and variety of specialized roles performed by enslaved people.

LO 2.6.B

Explain how slave labor systems affected the formation of African American musical and linguistic practices.

LO 2.6.C

Evaluate the economic effects of enslaved people’s commodification and labor, within and outside of African American communities.

Essentials

Terms

Gang system
Task system
Syncopated rhythms
Gullah Creole

Required Sources

You will need to understand and be able to use these materials for the AP exam.

A large shallow, round tray shaped basket made of reeds, rush and palmetto coiled and woven together. A faded purple string is woven through the basket on one side and knotted inside the basket.

Rice Fanner Basket

pre-1863

View this artifact of rice cultivation by enslaved people on the South Carolina coast.

Primary Source

A hand-colored lithograph showing enslaved Black men and women cut sugar cane and load the bundles or junks into a horse-drawn cart. A White man on a horse speaks to a Black overseer. Includes cutting bills or knives, coconut palms, and a windmill in the distance.

Sugar Cane Harvest, Antigua, West Indies

1823

View this depiction of enslavement in the Caribbean.

Primary Source

A broadside announcing "Valuable Slaves at Auction" in large type, with a list of enslaved people, their ages, and primary forms of enslaved labor below

Broadside Advertising “Valuable Slaves at Auction” in New Orleans

1859

Explore how the labor of enslaved people was advertised.

Primary Source

Additional Resources

You can further develop your knowledge of this topic with primary and secondary sources.

A watercolor showing enslaved people picking cotton with an overseer nearby

Painting of a Plantation

ca. 1860

Explore an artist’s depiction of enslavement.

Secondary Source

Broadside with text of varying sizes. On the top it reads in all capital letters, "MEN OF COLOR; TO ARMS! TO ARMS!; NOW OR NEVER."

Generations in Captivity: Slavery in America

with Ira Berlin

Understand how the interplay of regional and generational factors shaped the development of slavery in the antebellum United States.

Video

A Black woman with black curly hair and red lipstick smiles at the camera. She wears a collared blue patterned shirt, and a suit jacket.

A History of the Enslaved Black Family

with Brenda Stevenson

Learn about the history of the Black family from the Middle Passage through Reconstruction.

Video

Photograph of a man with graying, curly hair, smiling at the camera in front of a wooden wall. He wears a dark suit jacket, a blue collared shirt, and a red and blue paisley tie.

Slavery and the Early American Economy

with Edward L. Ayers

Consider how contemporary events affected American slavery at different points in history.

Video

A color engraving of a Black man in a black suit and white shirt at a lectern preaching to a congregation in a church

In Hope of Liberty: Northern Free Blacks, 1700–1860

with James and Lois Horton

Explore the evolution of ideas of race and class in the early republic and the cooperation of Black and White people in the antislavery movement.

Video

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Learning Objectives

Essentials

Learning Objectives

LO 2.7.A

Explain how American law affected the lives and citizenship rights of enslaved and free African Americans between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries.

LO 2.7.B

Explain how slave codes developed in response to African Americans’ resistance to slavery.

Essentials

Terms

Slave Code (aka Código Negro, Code Noir)
Chattel slavery
Fifteenth Amendment
Stono Rebellion

People

Dred Scott

Required Sources

You will need to understand and be able to use these materials for the AP exam.

Cover page for "Le Code Noir ou Edit Du Roy," featuring a royal seal at the top of the page and a round stamp from the Bibliotheque National.

Louisiana Code Noir

1724

Read a revision to the Code Noir, developed following slave codes in English colonies.

Primary Source

A page from a book focused on a title of legislation, "An Act for the Better Ordering and Governing of Negroes and Slaves."

South Carolina Slave Code

1740

Read excerpts from this slave code enacted in a British colony.

Primary Source

Excerpts from the United States Constitution

1787

Read the three-fifths, transatlantic slave trade, and fugitive slave clauses, none of which explicitly referenced slavery or enslaved people.

Primary Source

Dred Scott’s Petition

1846

Read Dred Scott’s plea to be allowed to sue for his freedom in St. Louis.

Primary Source

An engraving of White man with a gaunt face and long white hair, wearing a dark overcoat, jacket, and pants, his right hand holding a scroll and his left hand resting on a stack of books. "Chief Justice Roger Taney" printed below the image.

Dred Scott v. Sandford Majority Opinion

1857

Read Roger Taney’s majority opinion, overturned by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments.

Primary Source

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Additional Resources

You can further develop your knowledge of this topic with primary and secondary sources.

Handwritten document in French headlined "Edit du Roi" [Edict from the King].

Louisiana Code Noir

1685

Read this excerpt from France’s original colonial slave code.

Primary Source

A portrait of a Black man with long black hair wearing a white turban, white robe, and necklace.

Ayuba bin Suleiman Diallo to His Father

ca. 1733

Read a translation of the letter that helped to secure Diallo’s freedom from enslavement.

Primary Source

Engraving showing a Black man in a coat, vest, white shirt, and bow tie and a Black woman wearing a patterned dress with a wide white collar, with earrings.

The Dred Scott Decision and Its Bitter Legacy

1800–1858

Dred Scott’s case before the US Supreme Court challenged the nation on slavery, citizenship, and state sovereignty.

Interactive

Scan of a book page with the text of a law passed in Virginia in 1662.

Study Aid: Slavery and the Law in Seventeenth-Century Virginia

1662–1691

Explore a timeline of laws pertaining to slavery in Virginia from 1662 to 1691.

Teacher Resources

Scan of a signed contract engaging a captain to oversee a set of men acting as a slave patrol, with manuscript accomplishment, signed by Obadiah Woodson and Horace L. Robards.

Slave Patrol Contract

1856

Explore an effort to enforce North Carolina’s slave codes in 1856.

Primary Source

A bald white man wearing rectangular glasses and a suit smiles at the camera. He is standing in front of a bust of Lincoln and a bookshelf.

Abraham Lincoln and the Antislavery Constitution

with James Oakes

Understand the evolution of the antislavery interpretation of the Constitution.

Video

A Black man smiling while wearing a black suit, light blue shirt, and patterned red tie.

A Founder’s Journey from Slave Trader to Abolitionist

with Michael Thurmond

Learn how James Oglethorpe, founder of Georgia, helped to secure Ayuba bin Suleiman Diallo’s freedom.

Video

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Topic Overview

Learn about key concepts for this topic directly from prominent scholars in the field.

Professor Jennifer L. Morgan explains the origins and consequence of the legal principle partus sequitur ventrem.

Required Sources

You will need to understand and be able to use these materials for the AP exam.

Laws of Virginia, Act XII

1662

Read the act that established the doctrine of partus sequitur ventrem.

Primary Source

Am I Not a Woman and a Sister?

ca. 1833

View this visual representation of a rallying cry for abolition among Black women.

Primary Source

Additional Resources

You can further develop your knowledge of this topic with primary and secondary sources.

A page from a book with the title "The Statues at Large" in large, gothic font.

Legislating Reproduction and Racial Difference

from Women and the American Story, The New York Historical

Take a deep dive into the legal doctrine of partus sequitur ventrem.

Essay

Scan of the US Constitution, printed in September 1787.

Race and the American Constitution: A Struggle Toward National Ideals

by James Oliver Horton

Read how both pro-slavery and anti-slavery movements used the Constitution to promote their beliefs.

Essay

A simple, printed broadside on aged paper, with a statement at the top and columns of New York locations and population numbers below.

Slavery in the New York State Census

ca. 1800

Examine this broadside, which included a count of enslaved people in New York State.

Primary Source

Origins of Enslavement | APAAS

AP African American Studies Guide

African Explorers in the Americas

Learning Objectives

Essentials

Learning Objectives

Essentials

Required Sources

1538

1579

Additional Resources

by Matthew Restall

Featured Videos

Learning Objectives

Essentials

Learning Objectives

Essentials

Required Sources

by David Eltis and David Richardson

Additional Resources

by Kwasi Konadu

with Brenda Stevenson

by Michael Guasco

1788, 1789

by Michael Siegel and Rutgers Cartography

by Michael Siegel and Rutgers Cartography

Capture and the Impact of the Slave Trade on West African Societies

Learning Objectives

Essentials

Learning Objectives

Essentials

Required Sources

1773

1789

Additional Resources

with Krystal Mackie, Jeanette Providence, and Sandra Trenholm

by Michael Siegel and Rutgers Cartography

1749

by Ira Berlin

by Vincent Carretta

by Vincent Carretta

by Michael Siegel and Rutgers Cartography

Featured Videos

African Resistance on Slave Ships and the Antislavery Movement

Learning Objectives

Essentials

Learning Objectives

Essentials

Required Sources

1788

1839

by Willie Cole

William H. Townsend, Sketches of Twenty-Two of the Amistad Captives (ca. 1839–1840)

Additional Resources

1840

Slave Auctions and the Domestic Slave Trade

Learning Objectives

Essentials

Learning Objectives

Essentials

Required Sources

1853

1859

Additional Resources

1855

by Michael Siegel and Rutgers Cartography

with Rachel L. Swarns

1818–1845

Featured Videos

Resources from Our Partners

The Forced Migration of Enslaved People in the United States

Labor, Culture, and Economy

Learning Objectives

Essentials

Learning Objectives

Essentials

Required Sources

pre-1863

1823