Chapter 6: The Experience of the Enslaved People

Chapter 6: The Experience of the Enslaved People

• The transatlantic slave trade resulted in immense human suffering.

• Enslaved people came from various backgrounds, including criminals, religious captives, indebted servants, and those captured in wars or raids.

• Most enslaved Africans were adult males, with the majority likely not combatants.

• Slave traders sought to lessen the enemy's ability to counterattack.

• Captives were initially confined in the interior, often transported to the coast via large canoes, boats, or land caravans.

• Transportation time varied significantly, depending on location and available trade routes.

• Treatment of captives varied based on local factors (wars, droughts, etc.).

• Enslaved people often waited at ports before boarding ships, sometimes for weeks or months.

• Enslaved people's conditions, during waiting periods, were affected by local conditions like wars, political upheavals, and droughts.

• Estimates suggest enslaved people waited between 6 - 12 months.

• Mortality rates were high during captive transportation and waiting periods.

• Slave ships were often overcrowded.

• Modern scholarship disputes the claim that overcrowding caused high mortality rates, suggesting the presence of illness and malnutrition as major contributing factors.

• Average mortality rates on slaving voyages ranged between 10-20%.

• Factors like the starting point of voyages and length of voyages affected mortality rates, with journeys originating from northern regions having lower mortality rates compared to those from the equatorial regions.

• Enslaved people faced numerous diseases (malaria, dysentery, scurvy, smallpox) and inadequate medical care.

• Short voyages had a lower mortality rate compared to longer voyages.

• The treatment of enslaved people was highly inhumane, involving physical and psychological mistreatment, cultural suppression, and denial of basic rights.

• Enslaved people were forced to work various jobs on plantations, in mines, and as household servants, under harsh conditions.

• Gender imbalance on slave ships disproportionately impacted the ability to form families.

• The average survival rate of people during acclimatization was about 50%, declining slightly over time.

• The average survival rate of people during acclimatization was about one in three.

• Laws often reinforced the idea of enslaved people as property, limiting basic rights like marriage and ownership of possessions.

• Enslaved people were frequently beaten or whipped for disobedience.

• Many were subjected to various forms of torture as punishment.