Question

thomas phillips | a journal of a voyage made in
the hannibal of london | 1694

as soon as the king understood of our landing, he sent two of his
cappasheirs, or noblemen, to compliment us at our factory, where we
designd to continue that night, and pay our respects to his majesty next
day ... whereupon he sent two more of his grandees to invite us there that
night; saying he waited for us, and that all former captains used to attend
him the first night: whereupon being unwilling to infringe the custom, or
give his majesty any offence, we took our hammocks, and mr. peirson,
myself, capt. clay, our surgeons, pursers, and about 12 men, armd for our
guard, were carryd to the kings town, which contains about 50 houses...

we returned him thanks by his interpreter, and assurd him how great
affection our masters, the royal african company of england, bore to him,
for his civility and fair and just dealings with their captains; and that
notwithstanding there were many other places, more plenty of negro slaves
than beggd their custom, yet they had rejected all the advantageous offers
made them out of their good will to him, and therefore had sent us to trade
with him, to support his country with necessaries, and that we hopd he
would endeavour to continue their favour by his kind usage and fair
dealing with us in our trade, that we may have our slaves with all

11 multiple choice 1 point
phillips’s account provides evidence in support of which of the following conclusions
about the slave market in the caribbean?
○ slaves were bartered for sugar, which could be sold back in europe for high
profits.
○ there was a market for slave cargos where a majority of the slaves were men.
○ slaves from whydah were more highly valued than those from elsewhere in
west africa.
○ the market was saturated, making the selling of slaves difficult.

12 multiple choice 1 point
in what way did the ruler of whydah take advantage of his position to profit from the
slave trade?
○ he always waited until at least two european ships were anchored off his lands
before trading, so that he could get the best price from competing buyers.
○ he required european merchants to buy groups of slaves without seeing them
first.
○ he forced european slave traders to buy from him first before he allowed them to
trade with his subjects.
○ he forced his subjects to sell their slaves to him and then required the
europeans to buy all their slaves directly from him.

Explanation:

Question 11

To solve this, we analyze each option:

• Option 1: The passage doesn't mention slaves being bartered for sugar or sugar trade profits. Eliminate.
• Option 2: The text doesn't provide info on the majority of slaves being men in the market. Eliminate.
• Option 3: The passage states the Royal African Company chose to trade with this king despite other places having more slaves, implying slaves from Whydah (his region) were more valued. This fits.
• Option 4: The passage doesn't suggest the market was saturated; in fact, the company chose this region, so selling wasn't difficult. Eliminate.

Analyze each option:

• Option 1: The passage doesn't mention waiting for two ships. Eliminate.
• Option 2: No info about not seeing slaves before buying. Eliminate.
• Option 3: The king's position: the Royal African Company chose to trade with him (despite other options) to support his country. This implies he forced traders to buy from him first (to get their business) before trading with his subjects. This aligns with "take advantage" as he leveraged his position to ensure trade with him.
• Option 4: The passage doesn't say he forced subjects to sell to him first or required Europeans to buy only from him. Eliminate.

Answer:

C. Slaves from Whydah were more highly valued than those from elsewhere in West Africa.

Question 12