slave ships spent several months travelling to different parts of the coast, buying their cargo. the...

Slave ships spent several months travelling to different parts of the coast, buying their cargo. The captives were often in poor health from the physical and mental abuse they had suffered. They were taken on board, stripped naked and examined from head to toe by the captain or surgeon

Conditions on board ship during the Middle Passage were appalling. The men were packed together below deck and were secured by leg irons. The space was so cramped they were forced to crouch or lie down. Women and children were kept in separate quarters, sometimes on deck, allowing them limited freedom of movement, but this also exposed them to violence and sexual abuse from the crew.

The air in the hold was foul and putrid. Seasickness was common and the heat was oppressive. The lack of sanitation and suffocating conditions meant there was a constant threat of disease. Epidemics of fever, dysentery (the 'flux') and smallpox were frequent. Captives endured these conditions for about two months, sometimes longer.

n good weather the captives were brought on deck in midmorning and forced to exercise. They were fed twice a day and those refusing to eat were force-fed. Those who died were thrown overboard.

The combination of disease, inadequate food, rebellion and punishment took a heavy toll on captives and crew alike. Surviving records suggest that until the 1750s one in five Africans on board ship died.

Some European governments, such as the British and French, introduced laws to control conditions on board. They reduced the numbers of people allowed on board and required a surgeon to be carried. The principal reason for taking action was concern for the crew and not the captives. The surgeons, though often unqualified, were paid head-money to keep captives alive. By about 1800 records show that the number of Africans who died had declined to about one in eighte

Diorama of a scene from a slave auction from the former Transatlantic Slavery gallery at Merseyside Maritime Museum On reaching the Americas the crew of slave ships prepared the Africans for sale. They washed, shaved and rubbed them with palm oil to disguise sores and wounds caused by conditions on board. The captains usually sold their captives directly to planters or specialised wholesalers by auction

Families who had managed to stay together were now often broken up. Bonds formed during the voyage were also broken. Immediately owners and their overseers sought to obliterate the identities of their newly acquired slaves, to break their wills and sever any bonds with the past. They forced Africans to adapt to

new working and living conditions, to learn a new language and adopt new customs. They called this process 'seasoning' and it could last two or three years. For Africans, weakenedby the trauma of the voyage, the brutality of this process was overwhelming. Many died or committed suicide. Others resisted and were punished. The rest found ways of appearing to conform which still preserved their dignity. Buying slaves at auction Listen to audio clips or read transcripts of two very different accounts of slave auctions by former slave Olaudah Equiano and plantation owner Thomas Thistlewood.Olaudah EquianoThomas Thistlewood ..

Abolition campaigner and former slave Olaudah Equiano wrote his autobiography in 1789. In this extract he describes his experiences on arrival in the Americas.

At last we came in sight of the island of Barbados, at which the whites on board gave a great shout, and made many signs of joy to us. We did not know what to think of this; but as the vessel drew nearer we plainly saw the harbour and other ships of different kinds and sizes; and we soon anchored amongst them off Bridge Town.

Many merchants and planters now came on board. They put us in separate parcels and examined us attentively. They also made us jump, and pointed to the land, signifying we had to go there. We were conducted immediately to the merchant's yard, where we were pent up altogether like so many sheep in a fold, without regard to sex or age.

We were not many days in the merchant's custody before we were sold after their usual manner, which is this: on a signal given, the buyers rush at once into the yard where the slaves are confined and make a choice of that parcel they like best.

The noise and clamour with which this is attended and the eagerness in the countenances of the buyers, serve not a little to increase the apprehensions of the terrified Africans who may well be supposed to consider them as the ministers of that destruction to which they think themselves devoted.

this manner, without scruple, are relations and friends separated, most of them never to see each other again. It was very common in several of the islands, particularly in St Kitts, for the slaves to be branded with the initial letters of their masters name;

and a load of heavy iron hooks hung about their necks. Indeed on the most trifling occasion they were loaded with chains and often instruments of torture were added. The iron muzzle, thumb screws etc. are so well known as not to need a description and were sometimes applied for the slightest fault.

I have seen a Negro beaten till some of his bones were broken, for even letting the pot boil over. Is it surprising that usage like this should drive the poor creatures to despair and make them seek a refuge in death from those evils that render their lives intolerable? This they frequently do.

The noise and clamour with which this is attended and the eagerness in the countenances of the buyers, serve not a little to increase the apprehensions of the terrified Africans who may well be supposed to consider them as the ministers of that destruction to which they think themselves devoted. In this manner, without scruple,

are relations and friends separated, most of them never to see each other again. It was very common in several of the islands, particularly in St Kitts, for the slaves to be branded with the initial letters of their masters name; and a load of heavy iron hooks hung about their necks. Indeed on the most trifling occasion they

were loaded with chains and often instruments of torture were added. The iron muzzle, thumb screws etc. are so well known as not to need a description and were sometimes applied for the slightest fault. I have seen a Negro beaten till some of his bones were broken, for even letting the pot boil over.

Is it surprising that usage like this should drive the poor creatures to despair and make them seek a refuge in death from those evils that render their lives intolerable? This they frequently do. A Negro man on board a vessel of my master, having been put in irons for some trifling misdemeanour, and kept in that state for some days,

being weary of life took an opportunity of jumping overboard into the sea; however he was picked up without being drowned. Another whose life was also a burden to him resolved to starve himself to death and refused to eat any victuals. This procured him a severe flogging and he also on the first occasion which offered jumped overboard but he was saved."

Thomas Thistlewood - sales and branding An account of slave auctions by plantation owner Thomas Thistlewood. "In regard to buying of Negroes, I would choose men-boys and girls, none exceeding 16 or 18 years old, as full grown men or women seldom turn out well; and besides, they shave the men so close and gloss them over so much that a person cannot be certain he does not buy old Negroes. Have observed those with cut faces (Chamboys I think they call them) do not do vastly well at Egypt plantation, yet as that may only be by chance, have no great objection to them.

Have also observed that many new Negroes, who are bought fat and sleek from aboard the ship, soon fall away much in a plantation, whereas those which are in a moderate condition hold their flesh better and are commonly hardier. On the 7th December 1761 I paid Mr John Hutt 112 for two men and 200 for one boy and three girls. The new Negroes were soon branded

with my mark TT on the right shoulder. Coobah: 4 foot 6 inches tall, about 15 years old, Country name Molia, an Ebo. I put him to live with the Princess. Sukey: 4 foot 8 inches tall, about 14 years old, I put her to live with Job. Maria: 4 foot 11 inches tall, about 15 years old. Country name Ogo. I put her with Lucy. Back to the top Back to the top

Pompey: 4 foot 9 inches tall, about 16 years old. Country name Oworia, a Coromante. Put to live with Plato. Will: 5 foot 3 inches tall, about 22 years old. Country name Sawnno, alias Dowotronny. (All of them were sent off to Egypt plantation as quickly as possible, arriving there by 8pm) as the smallpox is prodigiously here at Lucea. (I gave the sailor who brought them ashore 4 bitts, and provided them with 14 bitts worth of bread and saltfish.)"

An arrival in the ports, after crossing the Atlantic, the slaves were in a sorry state, both physically and mentally. Although attempts were made to keep them clean and excercised, they were hardly in a presentable condition to be sold.

The bewilderment and fear they experienced on top of everything during the voyage could only have increased when land was sighted. Many suffered from acute depressions- a state that the doctors carried by the ship called melancholy while other would be suffering from the effects of some disease or affiliation.

Before being offered for sale, the slaves had to be washed and cleansed, rubbed with palm oil and have his or her ailments doctored and disguised. Slaves were put ashore and exhibited to the planters and local dealers to whom they were auctioned. Prices paid varied greatly but 25 pounds- 75 pounds.

In these days when skilled craftesmen were both scarce and in much demand. A slave trained in a craft always fetched a high price in records of the valley Plantation in th old parish of St John for the year in 1787, there is an entry showing 330 pounds being paid for a good will carpeter Jimmy.

If a general price was agreed the sale then took place in what was referred to as a Scramble. In a scramble the slaves were assembled in two groups; males and females. At the fire of a gun the buyer rushed on board to sieze what they wanted. This was another terryfying

experience of the slaves, often causing some of them to jump over board in alarm.

The person who was not sold either because they were sick, maimed or disfigured, or for some other reason were classified as refuse and landed to be offered for sale at a public auction- this was often held in the tavern. Those who failed to find a buyer were abondoned to die on the waterfront. The buyers were either- merchants, planters and agents of planters.

The slaves bought were either obtained in lots and usually paid for in sugar or some other commodities.

By providing firearms amongst the trade goods, Europeans increased warfare and political instability in West Africa. Some states, such as Asante and Dahomey, grew powerful and wealthy as a result.

Other states were completely destroyed and their populations decimated as they were absorbed by rivals. Millions of Africans were forcibly removed from their homes, and towns and villages were depopulated. Many Africans were killed in slaving wars or remained enslaved in Africa.

About two-thirds of the people sold to European traders were men. Fewer women were sold because their skills as farmers and craft workers were crucially important in African societies. The burden of rebuilding their violated communities fell to these women.

People in West Africa have also suffered deeply and they continue to be at a vast disadvantage compared to those who promoted the trade against them. The Reparations Movement is seeking acknowledgment of the horrors committed during slavery. The movement is also demanding financial compensation from Europe and the United States for Africans and people of African descent in the diaspora

Once sold at auction the slaves were taken to their new home - the Plantation. The owners branded the slaves with "estate marks " to show which plantation they belonged to and to make it easier to identify runaway slaves. These same marks were used on cattle, barrels and other goodsauction

slave ships spent several months travelling to different parts of the coast, buying their cargo. the...

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