The Treatment of Slaves During The Atlantic Slave Trade

The Atlantic Slave Trade

The Atlantic slave trade is one of the largest trades that took place across the Atlantic Ocean from the 16th century to the 19th century. The Atlantic slave traders were the Portuguese, the British, the French, the Spanish, and the Dutch Empire. The traders were ordered by volume with the Dutch Empire being bigger participants than the Spanish. Each of these nations had their reasons for joining the slave trade. The Spaniards and Portuguese were slave traders that acquired slaves from the West of Africa and sold them to other nations. The Spanish acquired the slaves to work on their newly acquired colonies and did not in many instances participate in the process of selling slaves. On the contrary, the British were highly involved in the selling of slaves during the 18th century. The movement of these slaves across the Atlantic was done aboard ships that would stay at sea for long periods and the slaves were subjected to excruciating conditions that did not only put their health at risk but also their psychology. The experiences of the participants of the Atlantic Slave trade were different depending on various factors such as the country of origin of the slaves, the buyers and their destination. Those with the African identity were referred to as slaves even if they were merchants, priests, and farmers. The slavers from Europe had the experience of dispersing the African slaves across the Americas where they led lives of degradation and brutality.

Many of the slaves were acquired from the West part of Africa and transported by sea to their destinations where they would be auctioned off. The Portuguese, British, French and Spaniards would travel to Africa where they would solicit the help of the native Africans to acquire slaves (Blaufarb & Clarke, 2014). Many of the African people, more so from West Africa such as the Yoruba and Igbo that participated in this trade would never sell their relatives, however, when the African communities were at war, they would capture their enemies and hold them in cells until the buyers came to choose those that would make the long journey back to the Western countries. The Coastal African chiefs, in particular, supported the trade because it was lucrative and it brought them plenty of cowrie shells that acted as the currency in Africa during that period.

Once the slaves were sold to the Europeans, they would be put into ships that would be their home till the journey ends. They were put under the decks where the living conditions did not favor humans. They were bound together in chains and forced to stay close to each other in the soaring heat below decks when it was sunny and during the cold nights when the tides were high. The slaves were poorly fed as a group of more than seven men were forced to eat from the same bucket (Bosman, 1705). They were at times offered wooden spoons which would not be replaced if they lost them and they would be forced to use their hands to eat. The slaves would remain below decks for the whole journey and this being the case; they were only provided with buckets, which they would use to relieve themselves. However, due to the chains on their legs and hands, it was impossible for some to get to the bucket and they opted to relieve themselves in the areas they slept and this led to outbreak of diseases such as boils and Cholera. Bosman’s account on the conditions in which the slaves lived is similar to other history sources that have a record of slaves suffering from malnutrition and diseases that led to deaths.

The Europeans experience in the slave trade seemed to favor them as they made profits from the sale of the slaves. On transit, the Europeans would solicit for the services of the slaves. Many of the men did have sexual relationships with the women with or without their consent. They would parade the naked women and they would choose the one they wanted and force them to have sexual relations (Blaufarb & Clarke, 2014). When they were bored and needed some entertainment, some of the slaves would be brought on deck and asked to sing and dance for them. The crew members of the ships were also entertained by the slaves who would be flogged before being returned below deck for failing to comply the orders.

The slave traders would hire medical practitioners such as surgeons who would treat the ailing slaves during the journey. Many of the health practitioners were concerned with the way the slaves were being treated on their transit but would not voice their concerns for fear of being killed. According to some of the narrations, for a man that had the luxury of living on deck, they would not survive the conditions below deck for several minutes (Sheridan, 1981). They would be forced to go back up from time to time to catch some fresh air. The women and men alike had their clothes stripped off and they would sleep on the bare planks with nothing to cover their backs. Upon arrival at their destination in the Americas and Europe, they would be branded using hot iron depending on their purchasers. The number of African slaves, mostly from West Africa who arrived in the Americas was five times more than the number that arrived in European nations.

In a nutshell, slaves were acquired and treated by the slave traders using similar means even as they were in transit to the various destinations. The living conditions for all the slaves despite their buyers were terrible, and many slaves did not make it to their destinations. For those that were deemed so ill or died in transit, they would be tossed overboard like garbage. The abolition of the slave trade was not an easy task since many countries were developing during that period and there was demand for human labor that would only be given by the slaves. Africans proved to be hardy to the harsh weather conditions and strong; hence they were preferred by the slavers.