Continuing the lecture from Professor Eakin:
FOR MOST OF THESE PEOPLE THIS MUST HAVE BEEN A DEVASTATING EXPERIENCE. THE DEATH ON THE COAST MUST HAVE BEEN ENORMOUS. IN A SENSE MANY OF THE PORTS MUST HAVE BECOME GRAVE YARDS.
BEQUAQUA SAYS HE HAD NEVER SEEN A SHIP BEFORE, AND "...MY IDEA OF IT WAS THAT IT WAS SOME KIND OF OBJECT OF WORSHIP OF THE WHITE MAN. I IMAGINED WE WERE ALL TO BE SLAUGHTERED, AND WERE BEING LED THERE FOR THAT PURPOSE."
NOW THE PASSAGE ACROSS THE ATLANTIC MUST HAVE BEEN HARROWING EVEN AT THE BEST, THE BEST CONDITIONS.
JOSEPH MILLER'S WONDERFUL BOOK "WAY OD DEATH" (1988) WHICH LOOKS AT THE ANGOLAN SLAVE TRADE RECREATES THIS IN ENORMOUS DETAIL. AND ONCE AGAIN THE BEST DOCUMENTATION ON A GLOBAL SCALE IS DAVID ELTIS' CD.
THE AVERAGE SHIP PROBABLY HAD ABOUT 400 PEOPLE CHAINED IN GROUPS AND STACKED LIKE BOOKS ON SHELVES, BELOW THE DECK.
WITH MINIMAL FOOD AND WATER, BECAUSE THE MORE SUPPLIES YOU HAD ON BOARD, THE LESS SPACE YOU HAD FOR CARGO.
DISEASE, PUNISHMENT, AND TROPICAL TEMPERATURES ABOVE 100 DEGREES ABOVE DECK, IT MUST HAVE BEEN HORRIBLE CONDITIONS BELOW.
ANY TYPICAL VOYAGE MUST HAVE LOST 10-20 PERCENT OF AFRICANS THAT WERE CROSSING. AND IT WAS NOT HEALTHY FOR THE CREWS EITHER. IT'S PROBABLE THAT THE EUROPEAN CREWS THAT WERE ON BOARD THESE SHIPS, DIED AT THE SAME RATE AS THOSE PEOPLE THEY WERE CARRYING ACROSS.
THE SHIPS WERE SO UN-HEALTHY, THAT AT TIMES WHEN THEY ARRIVED IN THE NEW WORLD, THE SHIPS ARE SCUTTLED AND BURNT.
THIS SAYS SOMETHING ABOUT THE CONDITIONS ON BOARD.
SOME OF THESE SLAVE CAPTAINS LEAVE ACCOUNTS, AND SO SOME OF OUR BEST FIRST-HAND SOURCES ARE SLAVE CAPTAINS WHO LATER DECIDE THAT WHAT THEIR DOING IS IMMORAL, AND THEY WRITE ABOUT THIS.
AND IN FACT WHAT GETS MY VOTE AS THE GREATEST SONG EVER WRITTEN, WAS WRITTEN BY A FORMER SLAVE SHIPPER, JOHN NEWTON (1725-1807) AN ENGLISHMAN IN THE 18TH CENTURY, WHO HAS A RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE AND GIVES UP HIS TRADE, IS AUTHOR OF "AMAZING GRACE."
..........
TO BE CONTINUED
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