From: Tim Patterson
Date: 2/6/00
Time: 7:30:32 PM
Remote Name: 155.247.168.59
How were slaves brought into captivity and sold into slavery? Describe the routine of a slave ship. What strikes you as most important about this experience? Alexander Falconbridge is unclear on how the slaves were actually brought into there captivity before they are sold into slavery. He says that black fur traders buy the slaves from fairs that are run for the purpose of selling the natives into the slavery. He doesn’t say who runs the fairs but he says that they take place in the interior of the country and are run generally every six weeks. The black fur traders purchase the natives and bring them out to the coastlines where the Europeans are. The Europeans purchase them based on there health and size, and the amount paid for by the Europeans depends on the relative age and condition of the Africans. The Europeans examine their eyes and joints and pay accordingly. The fur traders bring the Europeans mostly men and boys, and sometimes women who are in the late stages of pregnancy. Thus the life of slavery begins. Falconbridge’s main point (whether he realizes it or not) seems to be the difficultly and hopelessness of life on a slave ship. It would appear that on the ship the slaves were being prepared for a life of captivity where punishment is constant and death is the only way out. At about eight in the morning everyday the captives are brought up onto the deck and weather permitting they remain there till around four in the afternoon. They are chained to the deck of the ship to keep them from escaping into the see. They are fed twice a day and given spoons to eat with, though they are usually lost and are forced to eat with their hands. They eat from buckets and the weak must deal with smaller portions, since fights are frequent during this time. If the captives don’t want to eat a hot coal id help up to their mouths and sometimes they are even forced to swallow the burning coal. This is a way that their captives force them to eat and keep healthy. Because the captives are essentially products, their captors keep them fit by forcing them to dance and exercise on the deck of the ship. They are severely beaten if they chose not to work their bodies and often sing melancholy songs about their homeland. Life as a captive was violent and sickly. The women were subject to submitting themselves to the common sailors and violence was constantly breaking out among the male captives. The Africans took more harshly to seasickness and the small ventilation provided for them in their bunkers was intolerable. It was hot, and Falconbridge says that their rooms resembled a ‘slaughterhouse’ with blood and mucus on the floors. The conditions on the ship prepared the captives for their lives in America, which were characterized by pain, punishment, and work without reward.