A slave is someone who is owned by another person.A slave has: No choiceNo freedomNo money A slave has to do what is asked of him by his master, usually this is work of some kind. Slaves are punished for not following their master's orders, working too slowly, or attempting to runaway. When we think of slavery today we think of the black Africans who were captured, sold into slavery and taken to the Americas to work on the plantations there. Slavery, as an institution, has a very long history. Indeed slaves were used to build the pyramids by the ancient Egyptians, by the Romans and by the Ancient Britons. Slavery was abolished in Britain in 1807. Sadly, slavery is not a thing of the past. In 1999, the International Labour Conference condemned the government of Myanmar (Burma) for their " ..widespread use of forced labor.." And throughout our modern world, women and young girls are forced into prostitution, while both children and adults work in near slavery conditions in sweat shops producing goods for the western world.
When we think about Africa today, we think of it as a poor third world continent, reliant on the charity of Western nations to survive. This has not always been the case.During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when Europeans first began exploring the world, Africa was a rich continent, eager to trade her gold, copper, ivory and leather goods for the white man's pots, pans, alcohol and guns. Under African law, slavery was a punishment for serious crimes, but most of these slaves were slaves of other black Africans. It was not usual for slaves to be traded at this time. In 1492, Christopher Colombus discovered the Americas. Other Europeans followed and made slaves of the native peoples living there. However, the Europeans also took Western diseases to the Americas and their slaves began dying. Another source of slaves had to be found. From trading with the Africans, Europeans knew that slavery was used as a punishment in Africa. They began to ask for slaves, rather than African goods, in exchange for the guns and alcohol that the African chiefs wanted. The African chiefs agreed and so the Triangular Trade was developed.
This was the name given to the trading route used by European merchants who exchanged goods with Africans for slaves, shipped the slaves to the Americas, sold them and brought goods from the Americas back to Europe.Merchants who traded in this way could get very rich indeed as American goods fetched a high price in Europe. It was called the triangular trade because of the triangular shape that the three legs of the journey made.The first leg was the journey from Europe to Africa where goods were exchanged for slaves. The second, or middle, leg of the journey was the transportation of slaves to the Americas. It was nicknamed the 'middle passage.' The third and final leg of the journey, was the transport of goods from the Americas back to Europe.
Slavery was not new to Africa. Traditionally, slavery was used as a punishment for serious crimes. However, although slavery was a punishment for criminals, they were, in the main, treated fairly well by their masters.
This was not the case once trading in slaves became 'big business'.
From about 1510, Europeans had begun capturing slaves and taking them to work in the Americas. They were easily able to do this because their weapons were much more powerful than the Africans' traditional spears and shields.
As the demand for slaves grew, the demand for slaves by Europeans grew. They exchanged guns for slaves and African chiefs, eager to possess guns which would give them power over rival chiefs, began inventing new crimes for which the punishment was slavery.
At the same time, coastal Africans were using guns to raid inland villages for the slaves that the Europeans wanted. Those who resisted capture were killed. Slaves were chained together and marched to the coast. Sometimes this could take many days or weeks. Slaves who did not move fast enough, or showed any sign of resistance to the traders, were whipped. Those who were too weak or sickly to complete the journey at the required pace were left to die. Fear of the slave trader led many Africans to move to remote areas where the soil was not so good and they were unable to grow enough crops to feed themselves. Africa became a continent of violence, war, fear and famine.
The transport of black Africans to the Americas by slave ship became known as the Middle Passage because it was the middle leg of the Triangular Trade route used by the European merchants.
The African slaves were viewed as cargo by the merchants and were packed into the ships with no regard to their basic human rights.
Slave ships could be either 'tight pack' or 'loose pack'. A 'tight pack' could hold many more slaves than the 'loose pack' because the amount of space allocated to each slave was considerably less, but more slaves would die on route to the Americas.
This famous diagram shows how slaves were tightly packed into the slave ships.
Other slaves were forced to spend the voyage sitting on deck. Many slaves became seasick or developed diarrhoea. Unable to move because they were chained into their positions, the slave's deck became a stinking mass of human waste. Slaves who had developed sores where their chains had rubbed their skin, had festering wounds often with maggots eating away their flesh.Conditions on the slave ships were so bad that many slaves decided they would prefer to die and tried to starve themselves by refusing to eat or by jumping overboard.
However, slaves that would not eat were whipped or force fed and the traders and ship owners began fixing nets to the sides of the boat so that the slaves could not jump overboard.
Slaves had no choice but to endure the horrific conditions.Once in the Americas, slaves were sold, by auction, to the person that bid the most money for them. It was here that family members would find themselves split up, as a bidder may not want to buy the whole family, only the strongest, healthiest member.
Slave Auctions were advertised when it was known that a slave ship was due to arrive. Posters like the one pictured left would be displayed around the town.When the slave ship docked, the slaves would be taken off the ship and placed in a pen like this one. There they would be washed and their skin covered with grease, or sometimes tar, to make them look more healthy. This was done so that they would fetch as much money as possible. They would also be branded with a hot iron to identify them as slaves.
There were two main types of slave auctions; Highest bidder, and Grab-And-Go.
"Sold! to the highest bidder!" The slaves would be brought from the pen, in turn, to stand on a raised platform so that they could be seen by the buyers. Before the bidding began, those that wished to, could come up onto the platform to inspect the slaves closely. The slaves had to endure being poked, prodded and forced to open their mouths for the buyers.
The auctioneer would decide a price to start the bidding. This would be higher for fit, young slaves and lower for older, very young or sickly slaves. Potential buyers would then bid against each other. The person who bid the most would then own that slave.
The 'Grab and Go' Auction
All people who wanted to buy a slave on the day of the auction would pay the trader an agreed amount of money. The trader would then give them a ticket for each slave that they had bought. At the sound of a drum roll, the door to the slave pen would be opened and the buyers would rush in and grab the slave or slaves that they wanted. The buyers then checked their slaves out by returning their ticket or tickets to the slave trader.
The slave auction was a terrible ordeal for the slaves, they did not understand the language and had no idea what was happening.
Africans sold as slaves in the Americas had to rely on their owners providing them with housing or building materials, pots and pans for cooking and eating, food and clothing. Many slaves did the best they could with what they were given. Most did not dare complain for fear of receiving a whipping or worse punishment.
Slaves were allocated an area of the plantation for their living quarters. On some plantations the owners would provide the slaves with housing, on others the slaves had to build their own homes. Slaves that had to build their own houses tended to make them like the houses they had had in Africa and they all had thatched roofs. Living conditions were cramped with sometimes as many as ten people sharing a hut.
They had little in the way of furniture and their beds usually made of straw or old rags.
Slaves who worked in the plantation house generally had slightly better housing nearer to the house and were given better food and clothing than those slaves that worked in the fields.
Sometimes they were given pots and pans for cooking, but more often they had to make their own. The long hours they had to work in the fields meant that they had little free time for making things to improve their living conditions. Some slaves used a hollowed out pumpkin shell called a calabash, to cook their food in.
Most plantation owners did not spend more money on food for their slaves than they had to and so the slaves lived on a diet of fatty meat and cornbread.
Slaves would be given one pair of shoes and three items of underwear a year. Although these and other clothing would be provided by their owner, they were often ill-fitting and made of coarse material.
Most slaves had to work from sunrise to sunset. Some owners made their slaves work every day, others allowed slaves one day a month off and some allowed their slaves to have Sundays as a rest-day.
Slaves would spend their free time mending their huts, making pots and pans and relaxing. Some plantation owners allowed their slaves a small plot of land to grow things to supplement their diet.
Slaves were not allowed to read or write, but some were allowed to go to church.
Tobacco, cotton and sugar were grown on large-scale farms called plantations.
As European demand for these crops increased, the plantations grew larger and needed more slaves to harvest the crops.
80% of all slaves shipped to the Americas were put to work on plantations. They worked long hours in the fields and were punished if they did not work hard enough.
Other slaves worked in the house as servants, or were used to do other jobs around the plantation.
Slaves had no say in what task they were required to do and no control over the length of their working day which was usually from sunup in the morning to sunset in the evening.
Jobs that the slaves did:
picking cotton
harvesting sugar cane
planting and harvesting rice
harvesting tobacco
growing and harvesting coffee
building railroads
working dairy products
weaving
carpentry
washing clothes
cooking
Slaves had no rights. Owners could do whatever they liked with their slaves. Often this included inflicting harsh punishments. A slave would be punished for:
Resisting slavery
Not working hard enough
Talking too much or using their native language
Stealing from his master
Murdering a white man
Trying to run away
punishments include:
being shackled (image 1)
being put in various contraptions (2)
being chained to the ground (3)
being whipped (4)
being hung (5)
Other slaves were forced to spend the voyage sitting on deck. Many slaves became seasick or developed diarrhoea. Unable to move because they were chained into their positions, the slave's deck became a stinking mass of human waste. Slaves who had developed sores where their chains had rubbed their skin, had festering wounds often with maggots eating away their flesh.Conditions on the slave ships were so bad that many slaves decided they would prefer to die and tried to starve themselves by refusing to eat or by jumping overboard.
However, slaves that would not eat were whipped or force fed and the traders and ship owners began fixing nets to the sides of the boat so that the slaves could not jump overboard.
Slaves had no choice but to endure the horrific conditions.Once in the Americas, slaves were sold, by auction, to the person that bid the most money for them. It was here that family members would find themselves split up, as a bidder may not want to buy the whole family, only the strongest, healthiest member.
Slave Auctions were advertised when it was known that a slave ship was due to arrive. Posters like the one pictured left would be displayed around the town.When the slave ship docked, the slaves would be taken off the ship and placed in a pen like this one. There they would be washed and their skin covered with grease, or sometimes tar, to make them look more healthy. This was done so that they would fetch as much money as possible. They would also be branded with a hot iron to identify them as slaves.
There were two main types of slave auctions; Highest bidder, and Grab-And-Go.
"Sold! to the highest bidder!" The slaves would be brought from the pen, in turn, to stand on a raised platform so that they could be seen by the buyers. Before the bidding began, those that wished to, could come up onto the platform to inspect the slaves closely. The slaves had to endure being poked, prodded and forced to open their mouths for the buyers.
The auctioneer would decide a price to start the bidding. This would be higher for fit, young slaves and lower for older, very young or sickly slaves. Potential buyers would then bid against each other. The person who bid the most would then own that slave.
The 'Grab and Go' Auction
All people who wanted to buy a slave on the day of the auction would pay the trader an agreed amount of money. The trader would then give them a ticket for each slave that they had bought. At the sound of a drum roll, the door to the slave pen would be opened and the buyers would rush in and grab the slave or slaves that they wanted. The buyers then checked their slaves out by returning their ticket or tickets to the slave trader.
The slave auction was a terrible ordeal for the slaves, they did not understand the language and had no idea what was happening.
Africans sold as slaves in the Americas had to rely on their owners providing them with housing or building materials, pots and pans for cooking and eating, food and clothing. Many slaves did the best they could with what they were given. Most did not dare complain for fear of receiving a whipping or worse punishment.
Slaves were allocated an area of the plantation for their living quarters. On some plantations the owners would provide the slaves with housing, on others the slaves had to build their own homes. Slaves that had to build their own houses tended to make them like the houses they had had in Africa and they all had thatched roofs. Living conditions were cramped with sometimes as many as ten people sharing a hut.
They had little in the way of furniture and their beds usually made of straw or old rags.
Slaves who worked in the plantation house generally had slightly better housing nearer to the house and were given better food and clothing than those slaves that worked in the fields.
Sometimes they were given pots and pans for cooking, but more often they had to make their own. The long hours they had to work in the fields meant that they had little free time for making things to improve their living conditions. Some slaves used a hollowed out pumpkin shell called a calabash, to cook their food in.
Most plantation owners did not spend more money on food for their slaves than they had to and so the slaves lived on a diet of fatty meat and cornbread.
Slaves would be given one pair of shoes and three items of underwear a year. Although these and other clothing would be provided by their owner, they were often ill-fitting and made of coarse material.
Most slaves had to work from sunrise to sunset. Some owners made their slaves work every day, others allowed slaves one day a month off and some allowed their slaves to have Sundays as a rest-day.
Slaves would spend their free time mending their huts, making pots and pans and relaxing. Some plantation owners allowed their slaves a small plot of land to grow things to supplement their diet.
Slaves were not allowed to read or write, but some were allowed to go to church.
Tobacco, cotton and sugar were grown on large-scale farms called plantations.
As European demand for these crops increased, the plantations grew larger and needed more slaves to harvest the crops.
80% of all slaves shipped to the Americas were put to work on plantations. They worked long hours in the fields and were punished if they did not work hard enough.
Other slaves worked in the house as servants, or were used to do other jobs around the plantation.
Slaves had no say in what task they were required to do and no control over the length of their working day which was usually from sunup in the morning to sunset in the evening.
Jobs that the slaves did:
picking cotton
harvesting sugar cane
planting and harvesting rice
harvesting tobacco
growing and harvesting coffee
building railroads
working dairy products
weaving
carpentry
washing clothes
cooking
Slaves had no rights. Owners could do whatever they liked with their slaves. Often this included inflicting harsh punishments. A slave would be punished for:
Resisting slavery
Not working hard enough
Talking too much or using their native language
Stealing from his master
Murdering a white man
Trying to run away
punishments include:
being shackled (image 1)
being put in various contraptions (2)
being chained to the ground (3)
being whipped (4)
being hung (5)