Table of Contents
Introduction……………………………………page 3
The start of slavery………………………page 4
The slave trade in Africa………………page 5
The middle passage………………………page 6
Arrival in America…………………………page 7
Slave work………………………………………page 8
The underground railroad ……………page 9
Conclusion……………………………………page 10
Introduction
“Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.” This was a quote from Abraham Lincoln showing his hatred for slavery. The history of slavery is filled with interesting facts. *The slave trade in Africa turned tribes against one another. The Middle Passage was the longest and arguably the worst part of slavery. When the slaves arrived in America, they were treated like supplies at the auctions. Finally, once they were sold, the slave work was hard and painful.
The Start of Slavery
The start of slavery was caused by labor shortage. At first there were not any permanent slaves there were only indentured slaves. Indentured slaves were non-permanent slaves. In early colonial times, indentured slavery was like a term of payment or punishment. For example, if somebody wanted to come to America and did not have enough money he might work as a slave for several years, or if someone committed a crime he might work as a slave for a few years. Indentured slaves could marry and own land after they get released. Soon rich plantation owners did not want to keep paying for slaves and then letting them go, so they forced some people to work as a slave permanently. That is how permanent slavery began.
The Slave Trade in Africa
The slave trade in Africa is when English men would go to Africa and trade goods like guns and jewelry for food. Africans would kidnap other Africans and trade them for goods like weapons and ammunition or, men who already owned slaves in Africa would trade some of his slaves for goods. If kidnapped Africans did not cooperate, the kidnappers would threaten to kill them. After being kidnapped they were forced to walk along the coast of Africa to forts where they would be sold to ship captains. When they were walking along the coast there necks would be tied together with chains and logs and their hands would be cuffed. The captain rarely filled up his ship in one spot, he would usually sail along the coast looking for the cheapest and fittest slaves. Then the slave traders would get back on their ship and transport the slaves to America. Most slave traders did not go into the interior or center of Africa because of fear of disease. When one African tribe would get weapons like guns, other African tribes would fear that the tribe would attack their colony so they started trading guns and the demand for slave trade rose.
The middle passage
The middle passage was the longest part of the slave trade journey and arguably the most miserable part. The middle passage is when the slaves were put on a ship and shipped to the American colonies. The middle passage could take anywhere from one to six months. The living conditions on the ship were horrible. Blood and mucus from sick people covered the floor, black slaves were packed tightly together with barely enough space to move. Sometimes on the ships a group of slaves would plan out a rebellion. Most of the time the rebellions failed and the slaves were severely punished, but sometimes the rebellions would have success and the slaves would take over the ship. Some forms of rebellion was even suicide. The people who were transporting the slaves knew less slaves meant less money, so the slave traders tried to stop slaves from jumping over board or starving. The slave traders stopped the slaves from killing themselves by punishing them. Common punishments for not eating was getting whipped or getting your lips burnt. They would also force feed you by forcing open your jaws. A punishment for trying to jump overboard is getting whipped.
Arrival in America
The arrival in America is when the slaves arrived in America and are sold at an auction. A few weeks before the slaves ship was due to arrive, flyers would be displayed on walls saying that a slave ship was soon to arrive and where the slave auction would take place. When the slaves arrived they were placed in a pen like room. Then slaves would be branded with a hot iron to signify them as slaves. At slave auctions families are torn apart because one slave owner did not want to buy the whole family. There were two types of slave auctions 1.) The slave auction 2.)the grab and go. The slave auction was a normal auction where the slave was sold to the highest bidder. The grab and go auction is much different. The slave owner or person who was buying the slaves would buy some tickets depending on the amount of slaves he wanted to buy. Then he would wait outside the enclosure until the gate opens, then he would go into the enclosure and grab the slaves or slave he wanted. Then he would show someone running the grab and go auction his tickets and the amount of slaves he has so the people know he is not stealing slaves. At the auction slaves were forced to undress so the slave buyer could see if the slave had whip marks. If a slave had whip marks slave buyers would think that the slave was “bad” and would not want to buy him or her. Then the slave owner would take the slaves to his plantation or property to be put to work. The majority of slaves were bought for field work.
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Slave work
Slaves work varies from working on a plantation to helping his or her master with his or her trade. In early colonial times slaves would help defend fortifications against Indian tribes. In southern colonies slaves mostly worked on the plantations. Slaves that lived in the south and worked on the plantations were usually treated very poorly. Slaves that worked on the fields (also known as field hands) usually raised and slaughtered cattle and planted and harvested tobacco, cotton, and rice. On most plantations slaves were required to pick 250 pounds of cotton a day, if they picked less they would get whipped. Working on the fields was obviously one of the most physically exhausting jobs. Slaves could also work in their master's house and do household chores like cleaning the house, cooking, and taking care of the children. Men that worked in the master’s house were usually butlers. The slaves had no say on the work they did. Harriet Tubman a famous ex slave once said “I grew up like a neglected weed-ignorant liberty having no experience of it.” In this quote she described the lack of liberty black slaves in America had.
The underground railroad
Some slaves decided that they could not do the hours of exhausting work so they decided to run away. Some slaves would run away in groups and others would run away alone. When slaves ran away the owner would offer large amounts of money in exchange for finding the runaway slaves. This made it even harder for the slaves to hide. The slaves already knew the consequences of getting caught, but they still made the risky choice to run away. When slaves started running away, whites who were against slavery started the underground railroad. The underground railroad was not actually a railroad, it was a secret network that helped slaves escape slavery. Nobody at first there was no underground railroad there was just a few pairs of people who helped slaves escape from slavery, but then they started working together and they made code names for houses and people that worked in the underground railroad. Houses or other stopping places were called stations, people who worked in the underground railroad called themselves conductors or operators, travel routes between houses and stopping places were called lines, and lastly escaping slaves were called cargo or passengers. Slaves usually picked sometime around Christmas to escape. They did this because it was a holiday and they probably would not be missed for several days, also the Ohio river would be frozen making it easier to cross. (most escape routes involved the Ohio river.) There was still a chance that the runaway slave would be caught even with the underground railroad. Most of the time when a slave got caught running away he would get whipped, but not only would he get punished the conductor that helped him would also get punished. The underground railroad was very secretive and no records were kept so even today we do not know exactly how the railroad was operated.
Conclusion
Clearly, slavery was a gruesome part of colonial history. In the beginning of slavery being an indentured slave could pay off debt or act as a punishment. In Africa slaves were kidnapped and treated brutally by other Africans then the slaves living conditions on the middle passage was cramped and inhumane. After that when the slaves arrived in America they were treated like supplies at the auction then the slaves were bought by rich slave owners and taken to the plantation to do field work and other tasks. Then the slaves might choose to run away with the help of the underground railroad. what do you think the American economy would be like right now if slavery had not existed?
