Slavery is where individuals are owned by other people, who will control what they work and do and also where they live. Slavery previously existed through history in many different years and most places around the globe. People such as the ancient greeks, Incas, the Romans, and Aztecs all had slaves working for them. Slaves are forced to work for nothing in return. Slavery has been going for as long as human history. It was a feature of life in the ancient world, and was also apart of African History before the Europeans arrived.
During the 1700s, Britain became very involved in slavery trade which had been dominated before by the Portuguese and the Spanish people. Merchants became very happy because their ships were completely full on each of the three legs of the triangular trade route. The triangular route was a trip that the ships travelled starting from Britain, then to Africa, and lastly to the America’s/Carribean. They transported goods such as guns, alchohol, glassbeads, etc. on trip from Britain to Africa, from africa to the America’s/Carribean, they transported mainly the slaves, gold, ivory, etc. and on the route from the America’s/Carribean, they transported cotton, tabasco, rum, sugar, etc.
Slavery lasted for quite a while. It finished around 1833 in the British Empire and 1863 in the United States. At the end of trade route, the merchants profit increased because the slaves that they captured in Africa were sold for profit in the Americas. They also sold raw materials such as sugar, tobacco and later on, even cotton. All the manufactured goods from Europe were loaded onto the ship and sent back to Africa to sell at a profit. At the end of the 18th century there was an estimate of up to 12 million Africans that were taken to become slaves to the West Indies, South Americans, and the Britain American Colonies. Slavery usually did last for a lifetime and a slaves child or children were born straight into slavery.
The most well known part of the transatlantic slave trade was called the “middle passage”. This part of the journey was where the slaves were transported from Africa, then travelled across the Atlantic Ocean and arrived in the America’s. This trip could of lasted from either one month to six months. The slaves were placed under the deck and were often in chains where they were forced to lie side by side next to each other which made it very cramped and little headroom.
The best way that slave ship companies found to pack their human cargo was the most profitable way however some favoured the loose pack method but it was an argument about if you give slaves more room in the deck, not as many would die from its horrible conditions. The slaves that were transported and arrived at their final destination in the ‘loose pack’ would be in better condition which meant the went for a higher price at the slave markets. Other people preferred the ‘tight pack’ for the slaves which meant there were a lot more slaves on one ship. Sometimes, because of the appalling conditions, slaves died or got to the Americas in very poor condition and health. The ‘tight pack’ was a lot more popular because of the profits but of course no one took the human suffering into consideration.
Places such as Guinea (a French Colony) and the Gold Coast (a British colony) kidnapped slaves that were from the north-west coast of Africa. They caught the slaves by using roping nets and they often captured them when they were out hunting which meant their family never would’ve knew what happened to them. After they were captured, they were forced to go into cages and then loaded onto the salve ships. The slaves were in brutal conditions while they were shipped to the Americas. The slaves in the below decks were a little more than leaking, ocean-going dungeons. During the summertime, the heat in the below deck was scorched and in winter, the slaves were supplied with a very little amount of clothing and no blankets or bedding. They found it very difficult and challenging to actually find a comfortable position for them to stay in due to the fact of it being overcrowded and also because hey were tied up in chains. They were fed with a very little amount of food, just enough to actually keep them alive so it could reduce the cost and maximise profits. They also had barely any access to fresh water at all.
Some of the slaves attempted to escape off the ship during their journey or even tried to end it all by jumping overboard. Some also refused to eat or drink anything. The the slave-ship captains decided to act upon this by getting the crew members to smash the teeth of the slaves and force feed the troublesome slaves. They also used a special tool which was like a pair of pliers. It is called the speculum oris and it had pointed ends which were jabbed between the jaws of the slaved and then, when they turned a screw, the ends of the speculum oris forced the slaves jaws apart.