Chapter 1 Introduction Test work Many Europeans thought that      India’s history was not important. They argued that Africans were inferior to Europeans, and they used this  ash   to help justify sla   very. Africa was by no means inferior to Europe. The people who suffered the most from the Transatlantic Slave trade were civilized, organized, and technologically advanced peoples, long before the arrival fittest of European slavers. Egypt was the first of many great African civilizations, existing for absdasddsaaout 2,000 years before Rome was built. It lasted thousands of years and achieved many magnificent and incredible things in the fields of science, mathematics, medicine, technology and the arts. In the west of Africa, the kingdom of Ghana was a vast Empire that traded in gold, salt, and copper between the ninth and thirteenth centuries.The kingdoms of Benin and Ife were led by the Yoruba people and sprang up between the 11th and 12th centuries. The Ife civilization goes back as far as 500 B.C. and its people made objects from bronze, brass, copper, wood, and ivory. From the thirteenth to the fifteenth century, the kingdom of Mali had an organized trading system, with gold dust and agricultural produce being exported. Cowrie shells were used as a form of currency and gold, salt and copper were traded. Between 1450–1550, the Songhai Kingdom grew very powerful and prosperous. It had a well-organized system of government; a developed currency and it imported fabrics from Europe. Timbu  ktu became one of the most important places in the world as libraries and universities were meeting places for poets, scholars, and artists from around Africa and the Arab World. Figure 1.1   Forms of slavery existed in Africa before Europeans arrived.    However, African slavery was different from what was to come. People were enslaved as punishment for a crime, payment for a debt or as a prisoner of war; most enslaved people were captured in battle. In some kingdoms, temporary slavery was a punishment for some crimes. In some cases, enslaved people could work to buy their freedom. Children have been saved of enslaved people did not automatically become slaves.Chapter ObjectivesAfter this chapter, students will be able to:Explain the significance of the Middle PassageIdentify the stages of the Trans-Atlantic Slave TradeUse primary and interactive sources to analyze the beginnings of the slave trade and the Middle PassageDefine the economic, moral, and political ideologies of implementing and justifying the slave tradeGuiding QuestsDirections: As you engage with the CONTENT in this chapter, keep the following questions in mind. Look for the information that provides answers to these questions and deepens your understanding.How did slavery become synonymous with African enslavement?What were the routes of the first slave ships?What stimulated the slave trade?What makes African slavery different than other forms of slavery?Resistance was an important part of life for enslaved people. What were some of the ways in which they resisted being enslaved? Figure 1.2Interactive Map    Key Terms, People, Places, and EventsTrans-Atlantic Slave TradeBenin and IfeSonghai KingdomBarracoonsElminaNautical technologyBartolomeu DiasChristopher ColumbusHispaniolaGuanchesTainosFernando II of Aragon and Isabel I of CastileLaws of Burgos and Laws of GranadaEmperor Charles VNicolas OvandoIndiesEnriquillo’s RevoltQuobna Ottobah CugoanoPoint of No ReturnMiddle PassageOlaudah EquianoThumb screwsZongThe Dolben ActSection I: Introducing the Slave Trade and New World SlaveryIntroduction to Reading #1: Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah EquianoThe personal accounts of enslaved individuals such as Olaudah Equiano are critical in understanding the harsh realities of the slave trade and the Middle Passage as well as demonstrating the ways in which captive Africans resisted their new station in life and fought for abolition. Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745–1797) was an African born (Kingdom of Benin) writer and abolitionist who documents in his memoir his journey from being captured at eleven years old, the Middle Passage, and working throughout the British Atlantic World as an explorer and merchant before settling in Europe as a free man, converting to Christianity and fought for the abolishment of the slave trade. The following excerpt comes from his memoirs, published in 1789. Reading 1.1Olaudah Equiano Describes the Middle Passage, 1789Olaudah EquianoOlaudah Equiano, Selection from “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, written by Himself,” The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, written by Himself, pp. 51–54. 1790.At last, when the ship we were in had got in all her cargo, they made ready with many fearful noises, and we were all put under deck, so that we could not see how they managed the vessel. But this disappointment was the least of my sorrow. The stench of the hold while we were on the coast was so intolerably loathsome, that it was dangerous to remain there for any time, and some of us had been permitted to stay on the deck for the fresh air; but now that the whole ship’s cargo were confined together, it became absolutely pestilential. The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us. This produced copious perspirations, so that the air soon became unfit for respiration, from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness among the slaves, of which many died, thus falling victims to the improvident avarice, as I may call it, of their purchasers. This wretched situation was again aggravated by the galling of the chains, now become insupportable; and the filth of the necessary tubs, into which the children often fell, and were almost suffocated. The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying, rendered the whole a scene of horror almost inconceivable. Happily perhaps for myself I was soon reduced so low here that it was thought necessary to keep me almost always on deck; and from my extreme youth I was not put in fetters. In this situation I expected every hour to share the fate of my companions, some of whom were almost daily brought upon deck at the point of death, which I began to hope would soon put an end to my miseries. Often did I think many of the inhabitants of the deep much more happy than myself; I envied them the freedom they enjoyed, and as often wished I could change my condition for theirs. Every circumstance I met with served only to render my state more painful, and heighten my apprehensions, and my opinion of the cruelty of the whites. One day they had taken a number of fishes; and when they had killed and satisfied themselves with as many as they thought fit, to our astonishment who were on the deck, rather than give any of them to us to eat, as we expected, they tossed the remaining fish into the sea again, although we begged and prayed for some as well we cold, but in vain; and some of my countrymen, being pressed by hunger, took an opportunity, when they thought no one saw them, of trying to get a little privately; but they were discovered, and the attempt procured them some very severe floggings.One day, when we had a smooth sea, and a moderate wind, two of my wearied countrymen, who were chained together (I was near them at the time), preferring death to such a life of misery, somehow made through the nettings, and jumped into the sea: immediately another quite dejected fellow, who, on account of his illness, was suffered to be out of irons, also followed their example; and I believe many more would soon have done the same, if they had not been prevented by the ship’s crew, who were instantly alarmed. Those of us that were the most active were, in a moment, put down under the deck; and there was such a noise and confusion amongst the people of the ship as I never heard before, to stop her, and get the boat to go out after the slaves. However, two of the wretches were drowned, but they got the other, and afterwards flogged him unmercifully, for thus attempting to prefer death to slavery. In this manner we continued to undergo more hardships than I can now relate; hardships which are inseparable from this accursed trade. – Many a time we were near suffocation, from the want of fresh air, which we were often without for whole days together. This, and the stench of the necessary tubs, carried off many. During our passage I first saw flying fishes, which surprised me very much: they used frequently to fly across the ship, and many of them fell on the deck. I also now first saw the use of the quadrant. I had often with astonishment seen the mariners make observations with it, and I could not think what it meant. They at last took notice of my surprise; and one of them, willing to increase it, as well as to gratify my curiosity, made me one day look through it. The clouds appeared to me to be land, which disappeared as they passed along. This heightened my wonder: and I was now more persuaded than ever that I was in another world, and that every thing about me was magic. At last we came in sight of the island of Barbadoes, at which the whites on board gave a great shout, and made many signs of joy to us. https://youtu.be/PmQvofAiZGAThe Arrival of European TradersDuring the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, European traders started to get involved in the slave trade. European traders took interest in African nations and kingdoms, such as Ghana and Mali because of their complex trading networks. Shortly after, traders became interested in trading in human beings, taking people from western Africa to Europe and the Americas. Initially, this began on a small scale but due to the slave trade, it grew during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as European countries conquered many of the Caribbean islands and much of North and South America. Europeans who settled in the Americas were attracted by the idea of owning their own land and not having to work for someone else. Convicts from Britain were sent to work on the plantations but there were never enough. To satisfy the growing demand for labor, Europeans purchased African people.They wanted the enslaved people to work in mines and on tobacco plantations in South America and on sugar plantations in the West Indies. Millions of Africans were enslaved and forced across the Atlantic, to labor in plantations in the Caribbean and America. Once Europeans became involved, slavery changed, leading to generations of peoples being taken from their homelands and enslaved. Children whose parents were enslaved became slaves as well.How Were They Enslaved?The major means of enslaving Africans were warfare, raiding and kidnapping, though people were enslaved through judicial processes, debt as well as drought and famine in regions where rainfall was scarce. Violence was another form utilized to enslave people. Warfare was used as a source to captured people in the regions of the Senegambia, the Gold Coast, the Slave Coast (Bight of Benin) and Angola. Raiding and kidnapping seemed to have dominated in the Bight of Biafra. Many captives were forced to travel long distances from the areas they called home to the coast, which meant there was an increase in the risk of deaths.Slave factories, dungeons, and forts were erected along the coast of West Africa, housing captured Africans in holding pens (barracoons) awaiting passage throughout the New World. They were equipped with up to a hundred guns and cannons to defend European interests on the coast, by keeping competitors away. There were nearly one hundred castles spread along the coast. The forts had the same simple design, with narrow windowless stone dungeons for captured Africans and fine residences for Europeans. The largest of these forts was Elmina. The fort had been fought over by the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British. At the height of the trade, Elmina housed 400 company personnel, including the company director, as well as 300 forts. The whole commerce surrounding the slave trade had created a town outside the castle, of about 1000 Africans. In other cases, the enslaved Africans were kept on board the ships, until sufficient numbers were captured, waiting perhaps for months in cramped conditions, before setting sail.The Ethnic Groups of the EnslavedThe British traders covered the West African coast from Senegal in the north to the Congo in the south, occasionally venturing to take slaves from South-East Africa in present day Mozambique. Many venues on the African Atlantic coast were more desirable to traders looking for the supply of enslaved people than others. This appeal was reliant on the level of support from the chieftains instead of topographical barriers or the demography of local populations. While some African rulers fought against the slave trade, other African rulers were willing participants, supplying European traders with the enslaved people they wanted. As the demand for African labor grew, some African traders began capturing other Africans and selling them to European traders. The Portuguese, French, and British often helped these rulers in wars against their enemies. African rulers had their own stake in the trade. Those who were willing to supply enslaved Africans became very rich and powerful as well as strongly armed with guns from Europe. The numbers of wars increased, and they became more violent because of the European guns and weapons. Many Africans died for every enslaved person who was eventually sold.The enslaved Africans included a combination of ethnic groups. However, after 1660, over half of the Africans capture and taken away by British ships came from just three regions—the Bight of Biafra, the Gold Coast, and Central Africa. Within the Bight of Biafra two venues, Old Calabar on the Cross River and Bonny in the Niger Delta were the major suppliers of the enslaved boarding British ships. The top three ethnic groups that accounted for the number of enslaved Africans within the British slave trade were the Igbos from the Bight of Biafra, the Akan from the Gold Coast and the Bantu from Central Africa.The Portuguese Slave Trade in AfricaUp to the late medieval era, southern Europe instituted a significant market for North African merchants who brought commodities like gold as well as a small numbers of slaves in caravans across the Sahara Desert. During the early fifteenth century, advances in nautical technology, permitted Portuguese sailors to travel south along Africa’s Atlantic coast in looking for a direct maritime route to gold-producing regions in West Africa. Founded in 1482 near the town of Elmina in present-day Ghana, São Jorge da Mina gave the Portuguese better access to sources of West African gold.By the mid-1440s, a trading post was established on the small island off the coast of present-day Mauritania. The Portuguese established similar trading “factories” with the goal of tapping into local commercial networks. Portuguese traders acquired captives for export and numerous West African commodities such as ivory, peppers, textiles, wax, grain, and copper. They established colonies on previously uninhabited Atlantic African islands that would later serve as gathering areas for captives and commodities to be shipped to Iberia, and then to the Americas. By the 1460s, the Portuguese began colonizing the Cape Verde Islands (Cabo Verde). Additionally, the Portuguese sailors encountered the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe around 1470 with colonization beginning in the 1490s. These islands served as entrepôts for Portuguese commerce across western Africa.In 1453, the Ottoman Empire’s successful capture of Constantinople (Istanbul), Western Europe’s main source for spices, silks, and other luxury goods produced in the Arab World and Asia, added further incentive for European overseas expansion. In 1488, following years of Portuguese expeditions sailing along western Africa’s coastlines, Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias famously sailed around the Cape of Good Hope. As a result, this opened up European access to the Indian Ocean. By the end of the century, Portuguese merchants surpasses Islamic commercial, political, and military grips in North Africa and in the eastern Mediterranean. A major outcome of Portuguese overseas expansion during this time was an intense rise in Iberian access to sub-Saharan trade networks. The following century gave way to Portugal’s expansion into western Africa leading Iberian merchants to recognize the economic opportunity of a widespread slave trading business.The Spanish and New World SlaverySpain was the first to make widespread use of enslaved Africans as a labor force in the colonial Americas. After his 1492 voyage, with support from the Spanish Crown and roughly one thousand Spanish colonists, Genoese merchant Christopher Columbus established the first European colony in the Americas on the island of Hispaniola. It has been reported that Columbus had previous involvement trading in West Africa and had visited the Canary Islands, where the Guanches had been enslaved by the Spanish and exported to Spain. While Columbus’ interests were mainly in gold, he realized Caribbean islanders’ value as slaves.In early 1495, preparing to return to Spain, he loaded his ships with five hundred enslaved Taínos from Hispaniola. Consequently, only three hundred survived. Spanish monarchs, Fernando II of Aragon and Isabel I of Castile, quickly cut his slaving activities short, attempting to compensate for the gold that was not flowing in. However, forced Amerindian labor grew progressively vital for the Spanish Royal policies. These policies were contradictory in a number of ways. While the Spanish Crown intended to protect Amerindians from abuse, they also expected them to accept Spanish rule, embrace Catholicism, and become accustom to a work regimen that was designed to make Spain’s overseas colonies profitable. In 1501, the royals ordered Hispaniola’s governor to return all property stolen from Taínos, and to pay them wages for the labor they performed. Additional reforms were outlined in the Laws of Burgos (1512), and later in the Laws of Granada (1526), however, they have been largely ignored by Spanish colonists. In the meantime, Spain’s royals granted colonists dominion over Amerindian subjects, convincing Indigenous populations to perform labor. This was an adaptation of the medieval encomienda, a quasi-feudal system in which Iberian Christians who performed military service were authorized to rule people and oversee resources in lands taken from Iberian Muslims.In spite of their opposition to the trans-Atlantic slave trade of Amerindians, the Crown allowed their enslavement and sale within the Americas. The first half of the sixteenth century saw Spanish colonists conducting raids throughout the Caribbean, transporting captives from Central America, northern South America, and Florida to Hispaniola and other Spanish colonies. There were two key arguments used to defend the enslavement of Amerindians. The first concept was “just war” against anyone who rebelled against the Crown or did not accept Christianity. The second concept was ransom meaning that any Amerindian held captive were eligible for purchase with the intention to Christianize them as well as rescue them from supposedly cannibalistic captors. The Spanish colonizers soon realized that forced enslavement and labor of Indigenous groups was not a feasible option. While the physical demands were intense, diseases such as smallpox, measles, chicken pox, and typhus devastated Indigenous populations, thus leading to a workforce that could not be sustained. Proponents of reform spoke out against Spanish colonization and abuses towards Amerindians, stating that it was deplorable on the grounds of religion and morality. Due to this mass decline of Indigenous populations, Emperor Charles V passed a series of laws in the 1540s known as the “New Laws of the Indies for the Good Treatment and Preservation of the Indians,” or just the “New Laws.”Among these new laws was the 1542 royal decree that abolished Amerindian slavery. Also, it was no longer a requirement for Indigenous people to provide free labor and Spanish colonists’ children could no longer inherit encomiendas. There were some oppositions to these changes from colonists in Mexico and Peru; places where colonists owned encomiendas similar to small kingdoms. As colonists complained and pushed back against the decree, some of the New Laws were partially enforced and some traditional practices were partially restored. On the contrary, Spanish colonists responding to declining Indigenous population began to search elsewhere for laborers to fulfill demand. As the Portuguese slave trade flourished, they set their sights on Africa.The Early Trans-Atlantic Slave TradeThe first political leader to manage the trans-Atlantic slave trade was Nicolas Ovando. He imported African captives from Spain to the island of Hispaniola. In 1502, Ovando became the third governor of the “Indies” following Christopher Columbus and Francisco de Bobadilla. Ovando was accused of indoctrinating Amerindians by the Catholic monarchs who argued that since they were converts, they should not have any contact with Muslims, Jews, or Protestants. Thus, the monarchs barred North African “Moorish” captives from being transported to the New World, however they allowed black captives and other captives who were born in Spain or Portugal. While Ovando at first resisted the trans-Atlantic slave trade, letters exchanged between Ovando and Spain after 1502 referred to captives exclusively as “negros,” or “blacks.”When the first captives arrived in Hispaniola, many immediately began resisting by escaping into the mountains and launching raids against Spanish settlements. In 1503, due to fears of African captives escaping and influencing Amerindians to revolt, Ovando petitioned the Spanish government to ban the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Shortly after, the indigenous of Hispaniola incited an uprising known as Enriquillo’s Revolt (1519–1533). This revolt demonstrates overlap with increasing African resistance and probably involved some involvement with enslaved Africans. In 1505, the governor sent a request to King Fernando II for seventeen captives to be sent to the mines in Hispaniola. To up the ante, the king used the labor of captives to increase gold production, and sent one hundred black captives from Spain directly to the governor. Over the next several years, the labor of African captives proved to be so effective that Ovando had 250 more African transported from Europe to work in the gold and copper mines.Between 1501 and 1518, the trans-Atlantic slave trade was comprised of Africans who were transported from Iberia. The Spanish Crown prohibited direct traffic from Africa because they feared that African captives would bring their African spiritual and religious practices to Indigenous populations thus interfering with Christian indoctrination. While the number of captive Africans was relatively low at this time, Hispaniola’s thriving population saw a dramatic decline from 60,000 to less than 20,000 from 1508–1518. Therefore, colonists needed laborers to maintain the colony’s gold mines and sugar industry. While the connection between race and slavery did not fully develop into a rigid racial hierarchy until the colonization of the Americas, specifically, North America, the Spanish Crown was adamant that African captives would come from sub-Saharan Africa.Section II: Passages to the New WorldIntroduction to Reading #2: Narrative of the Enslavement of Quobna Ottobah Cugoano, A Native of AfricaLike the plight of Equiano, Quobna Ottobah Cugoano (c. 1757– ?) was born in modern day Ghana and captured at the age of thirteen by a fellow African and sold to the British and forced into slavery. His memoir discusses his experiences during the Middle Passage and enslavement on a sugar cane plantation in Grenada located in the Caribbean. In 1772, after working on the plantation for two years, he was bought by an Englishman and taken to England. Here he converted to Christianity, obtained his freedom, and learn to read and write. He built relationships with Blacks in Britain such as Equiano and become involved in the movement to abolish the slave trade. The following excerpt provides some context into the first-hand experiences of the horrors of the Middle Passage from the point of view of Cugoano. Reading 1.2Narrative of the Enslavement of Ottabah Cugoano, A Native of AfricaOttabah CugoanoOttabah Cugoano, “Narrative of the Enslavement of Ottabah Cugoano, A Native of Africa,” The Negro’s Memorial; or, Abolitionist’s Catechism; by an Abolitionist, ed. Thomas Fisher, pp. 120–127. 1824.The following artless narrative, as given to the public by the subject of it, in 1787, fell into the hands of the author of the foregoing pages when they were nearly completed, and after that portion of his work to which it more particularly belonged had been printed off. It is, nevertheless, a narrative of such high interest, and exhibits the Slave-trade and Slavery in such striking colors, throwing light upon not a few of the most important facts which form the argument of this work, that he could not resist the temptation to give it in an appendix, leaving it to operate unassisted upon the minds of his readers, and to inspire them, according to their respective mental constitutions, either with admiration or detestation of the SLAVE-TRADE and NEGRO SLAVERY.I was early snatched away from my native country, with about eighteen or twenty more boys and girls, as we were playing in a field. We lived but a few days' journey from the coast where we were kidnapped, and as we were decoyed and drove along, we were soon conducted to a factory, and from thence, in the fashionable way of traffic, consigned to Grenada. Perhaps it may not be amiss to give a few remarks, as some account of myself, in this transposition of captivity.I was born in the city of Agimaque, on the coast of Fantyn; my father was a companion to the chief in that part of the country of Fantee, and when the old king died I was left in his house with his family; soon after I was sent for by his nephew, Ambro Accasa, who succeeded the old king in the chiefdom of that part of Fantee, known by the name of Agimaque and Assince. I lived with his children, enjoying peace and tranquillity, about twenty moons, which, according to their way of reckoning time, is two years. I was sent for to visit an uncle, who lived at a considerable distance from Agimaque. The first day after we set out we arrived at Assinee, and the third day at my uncle's habitation, where I lived about three months, and was then thinking of returning to my father and young companion at Agimaque; but by this time I had got well acquainted with some of the children of my uncle's hundreds of relations, and we were some days too venturesome in going into the woods to gather fruit and catch birds, and such amusements as pleased us. One day I refused to go with the rest, being rather apprehensive that something might happen to us; till one of my playfellows said to me, "Because you belong to the great men, you are afraid to “venture your carcase, or else of the bounsam,” which is the devil. This enraged me so much, that I set a resolution to join the rest, and we went into the woods, as usual but we had not been above two hours, before our troubles began, when several great ruffians came upon us suddenly, and said we had committed a fault against their lord, and we must go and answer for it ourselves before him.Some of us attempted, in vain, to run away, but pistols and cutlasses were soon introduced, threatening, that if we offered to stir, we should all lie dead on the spot. One of them pretended to be more friendly than the rest, and said that he would speak to their lord to get us clear, and desired that we should follow him; we were then immediately divided into different parties, and drove after him. We were soon led out of the way which we knew, and towards evening, as we came in sight of a town, they told us that this great man of theirs lived there, but pretended it was too late to go and see him that night. Next morning there came three other men, whose language differed from ours, and spoke to some of those who watched us all the night; but he that pretended to be our friend with the great man, and some others, were gone away. We asked our keeper what these men had been saying to them, and they answered, that they had been asking them and us together to go and feast with them that day, and that we must put off seeing the great man till after, little thinking that our doom was so nigh, or that these villains meant to feast on us as their prey. We went with them again about half a day's journey, and came to a great multitude of people, having different music playing; and all the day after we got there, we were very merry with the music, dancing, and singing. Towards the evening, we were again persuaded that we could not get back to where the great man lived till next day; and when bed-time came, we were separated into different houses with different people. When the next morning came, I asked for the men that brought me there, and for the rest of my companions; and I was told that they were gone to the sea-side, to bring home some rum, guns, and powder, and that some of my companions were gone with them, and that some were gone to the fields to do something or other. This gave me strong suspicion that there was some treachery in the case, and I began to think that my hopes of returning home again were all over. I soon became very uneasy, not knowing what to do, and refused to eat or drink, for whole days together, till the man of the house told me that he would do all in his power to get me back to my uncle; then I eat a little fruit with him, and had some thoughts that I should be sought after, as I would be then missing at home about five or six days. I inquired every day if the men had come back, and for the rest of my companions, but could get no answer of any satisfaction. I was kept about six days at this man's house, and in the evening there was another man came, and talked with him a good while and I heard the one say to the other he must go, and the other said, the sooner the better; that man came out and told me that he knew my relations at Agimaque, and that we must set out to-morrow morning, and he would convey me there. Accordingly we set out next day, and travelled till dark, when we came to a place where we had some supper and slept. He carried a large bag, with some gold dust, which he said he had to buy some goods at the sea-side to take with him to Agimaque. Next day we travelled on, and in the evening came to a town, where I saw several white people, which made me afraid that they would eat me, according to our notion, as children, in the inland parts of the country. This made me rest very uneasy all the night, and next morning I had some victuals brought, desiring me to eat and make haste, as my guide and kidnapper told me that he had to go to the castle with some company that were going there, as he had told me before, to get some goods. After I was ordered out, the horrors I soon saw and felt, cannot be well described; I saw many of my miserable countrymen chained two and two, some handcuffed, and some with their hands tied behind. We were conducted along by a guard, and when we arrived at the castle, I asked my guide what I was brought there for, he told me to learn the ways of the browfow, that is, the white-faced people. I saw him take a gun, a piece of cloth, and some lead for me, and then he told me that he must now leave me there, and went off. This made me cry bitterly, but I was soon conducted to a prison, for three days, where I heard the groans and cries of many, and saw some of my fellow-captives. But when a vessel arrived to conduct us away to the ship, it was a most horrible scene; there was nothing to be heard but the rattling of chains, smacking of whips, and the groans and cries of our fellow-men. Some would not stir from the ground, when they were lashed and beat in the most horrible manner. I have forgot the name of this infernal fort; but we were taken in the ship that came for us, to another that was ready to sail from Cape Coast. When we were put into the ship, we saw several black merchants coming on board, but we were all drove into our holes, and not suffered to speak to any of them. In this situation we continued several days in sight of our native land; but I could find no good person to give any information of my situation to Accasa at Agimaque. And when we found ourselves at last taken away, death was more preferable than life; and a plan was concerted amongst us, that we might burn and blow up the ship, and to perish all together in the flames: but we were betrayed by one of our own countrywomen, who slept with some of the headmen of the ship, for it was common for the dirty filthy sailors to take the African women and lie upon their bodies; but the men were chained and pent up in holes. It was the women and boys which were to burn the ship, with the approbation and groans of the rest; though that was prevented, the discovery was likewise a cruel bloody scene.But it would be needless to give a description of all the horrible scenes which we saw, and the base treatment which we met with in this dreadful captive situation, as the similar cases of thousands, which suffer by this infernal traffic, are well known. Let it suffice to say that I was thus lost to my dear indulgent parents and relations, and they to me. All my help was cries and tears, and these could not avail, nor suffered long, till one succeeding woe and dread swelled up another. Brought from a state of innocence and freedom, and, in a barbarous and cruel manner, conveyed to a state of horror and slavery, this abandoned situation may be easier conceived than described. From the time that I was kidnapped, and conducted to a factory, and from thence in the brutish, base, but fashionable way of traffic, consigned to Grenada, the grievous thoughts which I then felt, still pant in my heart; though my fears and tears have long since subsided. And yet it is still grievous to think that thousands more have suffered in similar and greater distress, Under the hands of barbarous robbers, and merciless task-masters; and that many, even now, are suffering in all the extreme bitterness of grief and woe, that no language can describe. The cries of some, and the sight of their misery, may be seen and heard afar; but the deep-sounding groans of thousands, and the great sadness of their misery and woe, under the heavy load of oppressions and calamities inflicted upon them, are such as can only be distinctly known to the ears of Jehovah Sabaoth.This Lord of Hosts, in his great providence, and in great mercy to me, made a way for my deliverance from Grenada. Being in this dreadful captivity and horrible slavery, without any hope of deliverance, for about eight or nine months, beholding the most dreadful scenes of misery and cruelty, and seeing my miserable companions often cruelly lashed, and, as it were, cut to pieces, for the most trifling faults; this made me often tremble and weep, but I escaped better than many of them. For eating a piece of sugar-cane, some were cruelly lashed, or struck over the face, to knock their teeth out. Some of the stouter ones, I suppose, often reproved, and grown hardened and stupid with many cruel beatings and lashings, or perhaps faint and pressed with hunger and hard labour, were often committing trespasses of this kind, and when detected, they met with exemplary punishment. Some told me they had their teeth pulled out, to deter others, and to prevent them from eating any cane in future. Thus seeing my miserable companions and countrymen in this pitiful, distressed, and horrible situation, with all the brutish baseness and barbarity attending it, could not but fill my little mind horror and indignation. But I must own, to the shame of my own countrymen, that I was first kidnapped and betrayed by some of my own complexion, who were the first cause of my exile, and slavery; but if there were no buyers there would be no sellers. So far as I can remember, some of the Africans in my country keep slaves, which they take in war, or for debt; but those which they keep are well fed, and good care taken of them, and treated well; and as to their clothing, they differ according to the custom of the country. But I may safely say, that all the poverty and misery that any of the inhabitants of Africa meet with among themselves, is far inferior to those inhospitable regions of misery which they meet with in the West-Indies, where their hard-hearted overseers have neither Regard to the laws of God, nor the life of their fellow-men.Thanks be to God, I was delivered from Grenada, and that horrid brutal slavery. A gentleman coming to England took me for his servant, and brought me away, where I soon found my situation become more agreeable. After coming to England, and seeing others write and read, I had a strong desire to learn, and getting what assistance I could, I applied myself to learn reading and writing, which soon became my recreation, pleasure, and delight; and when my master perceived that I could write some, he sent me to a proper school for that purpose to learn. Since, I have endeavoured to improve my mind in reading, and have sought to get all the intelligence I could, in my situation of life, towards the state of my brethren and countrymen in complexion, and of the miserable situation of those who are barbarously sold into captivity, and unlawfully held in slavery. https://youtu.be/S72vvfBTQwsTrans-Atlantic Slave TradeThe Transatlantic Slave Trade had three stages. During STAGE 1, slave ships departed from British ports like London, Liverpool, and Bristol making the journey to West Africa, carrying goods such as cloth, guns, ironware, and drink that had been made in Britain. On the West African coast, these goods would be traded for men, women, and children who had been captured by slave traders or bought from African chiefs.The second stage saw dealers kidnap people from villages up to hundreds of miles inland. One such person was Quobna Ottobah Cugoano who described how the slavers attacked with pistols and threatened to kill those who did not obey. The captives were forced to march long distances with their hands tied behind their backs and their necks connected by wooden yokes. The traders held the enslaved Africans until a ship appeared, and then sold them to a European or African captain. It often took a long time for a captain to fill his ship. He rarely filled his ship in one spot. Instead, he would spend three to four months sailing along the coast, looking for the fittest and cheapest slaves. Ships would sail up and down the coast filling their holds with enslaved Africans. This part of the journey, the coast, is referred to as the Point of No Return.During the horrifying Middle Passage, enslaved Africans were tightly packed onto ships that would carry them to their final destination. Numerous cases of violent resistance by Africans against slave ships and their crews were documented. The final stage, STAGE 3 occurred at the destination in the New World where enslaved Africans were sold to the highest bidder at slave auctions. They belonged to the plantation owner, like any other possession, and had no rights at all. Enslaved Africans were often punished very harshly and often resisted their enslavement in many ways, from revolution to silent, personal resistance. Some refused to be enslaved and took their own lives. Sometimes pregnant women preferred abortion to bringing a child into slavery. On the plantations, many enslaved Africans tried to slow down the pace of work by pretending to be ill, causing fires, or “accidentally” breaking tools.Running away was also a form of resistance. Some escaped to South America, England, northern American cities, or Canada. Additionally, enslaved people led hundreds of revolts, rebellions, and uprisings. Approximately two-thirds of enslaved Africans taken to the Americas ended up on sugar plantations. Sugar was used to sweeten another crop harvested by enslaved Africans in the West Indies—coffee. With the money made from the sale of enslaved Africans, goods such as sugar, coffee and tobacco were bought and carried back to Britain for sale. The ships were loaded with produce from the plantations for the voyage home. Resistance took many forms, some individual, some collective. Enslaved people resisted capture and imprisonment, attacked slave ships from the shore and engaged in shipboard revolts, fighting to free themselves and others. It is important to remember that there was resistance throughout the Transatlantic Slave Trade system beginning when Africans were first kidnapped. In some cases, resistance involved attacks from the shore, as well as ‘insurrections' aboard ships. Some captive Africans refused to be enslaved and took their own lives by jumping from slave ships or refusing to eat. As the system of slavery expanded, resistance will be demonstrated in various ways.Middle PassageThe Middle Passage refers to the part of the trade where Africans, densely packed onto ships, were transported across the Atlantic to the West Indies. The voyage took three to four months and, during this time, the enslaved people mostly lay chained in rows on the floor of the hold or on shelves that ran around the inside of the ships' hulls. There were no more than six hundred enslaved people on each ship. Captives from different nations were mixed together, making it difficult for them to communicate. Men were separated from women and children.Olaudah Equiano was a former enslaved African, seaman, and merchant who wrote an autobiography depicting the horrors of slavery and lobbied Parliament for its abolition. In his biography, he records he was born in what is now Nigeria, kidnapped and sold into slavery as a child. He then endured the middle passage on a slave ship bound for the New World.A great deal of sources remain such as captain's logbooks, memoirs, and shipping company records, all of which describe life on ships. For example, when asked if the slaves had ‘room to turn themselves or lie easy', a Dr Thomas Trotter replied: “By no means. The slaves that are out of irons are laid spoonways … and closely locked to one another. It is the duty of the first mate to see them stowed in this manner every morning … and when the ship had much motion at sea … they were often miserably bruised against the deck or against each other … I have seen the breasts heaving … with all those laborious and anxious efforts for life…” To the contrary, during a Parliamentary investigation, a witness to the slave trade, Robert Norris, described how “‘delightful' the slave ships were, arguing that enslaved people had sufficient room, air, and provisions. When upon deck, they made merry and amused themselves with dancing … In short, the voyage from Africa to the West Indies was one of the happiest periods of their life!”Horrors of the JourneyThe Middle Passage was a system that brutalized both sailors and enslaved people. The captain had total authority over those aboard the ship and was answerable to nobody. Captives usually outnumbered the crew by ten to one, so they were whipped or put in thumb screws if there was any sign of rebellion. Despite this, resistance was common. The European crews made sure that the captives were fed and forced them to exercise. On all ships, the death toll was high. Between 1680 and 1688, 23 out of every 100 people taken aboard the ships of the Royal African Company died in transit. When disease began to spread, the dying were sometimes thrown overboard. In November 1781, around 470 slaves were crammed aboard the slave ship Zong. During the voyage to Jamaica, many got sick. Seven crew and sixty Africans died. Captain Luke Collingwood ordered the sick enslaved Africans, 133 in total, thrown overboard, only one survived.When the Zong arrived back in England, its owners claimed for the value of the slaves from their insurers. They argued that they had little water, and the sick Africans posed a threat to the remaining cargo and crew. In 1783, the owners won their case. This case did much to illustrate the horrors of the trade and sway public opinion against it. The death toll amongst sailors was also terribly high, roughly twenty percent. Sometimes the crew would be harshly treated on purpose during the ‘middle passage'. Fewer hands were required on the third leg and wages could be saved if the sailors jumped ship in the West Indies. It was not uncommon to see injured sailors living in the Caribbean and North American ports. The Dolben Act was passed in 1788, which fixed the number of enslaved people in proportion to the ship's size, but conditions were still horrendous. Research has shown that a man was given a space of 6 feet by 1 foot 4 inches; a woman 5 feet by 1 foot 4 inches and girls 4 feet 6 inches by 1 foot.ReferencesBailey, Anne. Voices of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Beyond the Silence and the Shame. Boston: Beacon Press, 2005.Mustakeem, Sowande. Slavery at Sea: Terror, Sex, and Sickness in the Middle Passage. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2016.Smallwood, Stephanie. Saltwater Slavery: A Middle Passage from Africa to American Diaspora. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008.Figure CreditsFig. 1.1: Copyright © by Grin20 (CC BY-SA 2.5) at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Africa_slave_Regions.svg.Fig. 1.2: Copyright © by Sémhur (CC BY-SA 3.0) at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Triangular_trade.png.Fig. 1.3: Copyright © by SimonP (CC BY-SA 2.0) at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Triangle_trade2.png.