hello and welcome to lecture number 14
this is topic 2.3 capture and the impact
of the slave trade on West African
societies the first learning objective
is to describe the conditions of the
three-part Journey enslaved Africans
endured during the transatlantic slave
trade the first part is the march to the
coast many of the people who were
enslaved were captured and marched from
the interior States the abductions were
done by other Africans who were
utilizing European weapons to sell these
captives for finished goods weapons and
sometimes New World items like rum for
example the kingdom of D homi in present
day benon engaged heavily in capturing
and selling War captives they marched
the captives in cofal or chains that
traditionally connected captives by the
neck the march of the coast where they
would be sold to be put on slave ships
could last several
months when they arrived at the coast
they were held in bar raccoons or
hastily made Barracks other times they'd
be held in dungeons to factories or
fortified buildings on the coast often
these were very crowded with captives
chained together and unan Ary conditions
human waste would often sit in the
gutter of the cell and there would be
very little ventilation or light and
they could be held in these areas for
weeks or even months as they awaited a
slave ship to transport them across the
Atlantic examples of these factories
include the Portuguese fortification at
elmina Castle off the coast of Ghana and
gory Island located off the coast of
Sagal which traded hands between the
Portuguese Dutch English and
French the second part of the journey is
called the Middle Passage it started
when the captives were taken from the
dungeons or bar raccoons and bought by
the captains of slav ships they would be
roded to the larger slav ship waiting in
open water or natural Bay often the
slave ships would only buy a few
enslaved people at each trade post off
the coast of Africa so it could take
several weeks for a slave ship captain
to fill his cargo and finally head off
to the new world once they did sail off
they used the westward currents and the
prevailing winds usually launching from
the Canary Islands they could pick up
these prevailing winds depending on the
size of the ship and any interruptions
that happen during Transit the passage
could take between 2 to 3 months some
ships like the notorious Brooks could
carry up to 600 enslaved people far
exceeding its official
capacity there were many difficulties
for the captives during the Middle
Passage the overall death rate across
the entire transatlantic slave trade was
about 15% but it was definitely higher
in the earlier years of the slave trade
inhumane treatment was rampant captives
could be humiliated beaten or punished
for not being obedient the traditional
weapon of for the slave ship captains
was the cat Ninetails a whip women faced
the constant threat of rape and in Slave
people were placed in the cargo hold
below the deck of the ship where there
was less than 30 in of Headroom when
lying down they were chained together
often in pairs and stuffed beyond the
actual capacity of the ship diseases
such as small poox scurvy and dissenter
were common and difficult to control
among the human cargo and slave people
were usually fed twice a day but some
captains skimped on the food cost to
increase their profit margins leading to
malnourishment and death those who died
on board were then thrown overboard and
sharks were known to follow the ships
anticipating the bodies that were being
discarded in one Infamous incident in
1781 the crew of the British slaveship
zong threw 132 sick and dying slaves
money the final part of the journey was
the arrival at the Port upon arrival
captives were quarantined to recover
from illnesses and ensure diseases did
not spread further they were washed the
body's oil to had any blemishes or scars
and their herir was died to Mas gray
hairs by far the most cruel and
humiliating practice during this time
was to stuff up the anuses of people
that were suffering from distant ter
using hemp that way their ailment would
be hidden long enough to pass the
inspection of a potential
buyer the enslave would be lined up on
the deck of the ship and buyers would be
invited aboard to inspect them before
purchase slave ships rarely sold all
their human cargo at one location or at
the first Port of arrival so it could
take several months for a captive to be
sold to a potential Plantation often
they started in the Caribbean islands
and then made their way up to Charleston
South Carolina upon arriving at their
destination captives underwent a
seasoning period where they were trained
on plantation work and instilled with
obedience often through beatings
seasoning often included brutal
practices to break the spirit of the
captives making them more compliant
enslavers frequently gave them new names
often after famous Greek or Roman
figures as a way to strip them of their
identity and Humanity
the second learning objective is to
explain how the transatlantic slave
trade destabilized West African
societies the slave trade actually
predated European interactions slavery
already existed in Africa before the
Portuguese arrived but after the
Europeans arrived the monetary
incentives increased leading to more
violence and capturing of people from
rival factions to sell them into slavery
for instance the oo Empire in present
day Nigeria expanded its military
campaigns to capture more slaves prior
to European arrival more women and
children were enslaved than men because
the market for enslaved people was
usually across the Sahara where they
often became servants or concubines
after European arrival domestic Wars
between kingdoms were exacerbated by the
Firearms provided by Europeans and
men Coastal kingdoms benefited from
capturing and selling people from
neighboring societies increasing their
control and influence in the region
Coastal states that dealt with Europeans
became wealthy from the trade in goods
and people selling War captives from
opposing ethnic groups the kingdom of
Congo the Ashanti in modern day Ghana
and the doomi in modern day Vin are
examples of Kingdoms that benefited
greatly from the slave trade by the time
the European countries were considering
Banning the practice of the
transatlantic slave trade in the 19th
century these kingdoms lobbied against
its abolition king gzo of dhomi famously
declared in the 1840s that the slave
trade was the source of his Kingdom's
wealth conversely interior States became
became less stable under the constant
threat of capture and enslavement the
loss of people and family members who
could have assumed leadership roles
raised families or passed on Traditions
led to weaker political systems the
decimation of male populations and the
incentivization of coastal states to
continue capturing people resulted in
more Civil Wars among the interior
States for example the bombara empire in
present day Mali faced increased
trade the last learning objective is to
describe the key features and purposes
of narratives written by formerly enslaved
Africans a slave narrative is a genre of
literature in which formerly enslaved
Africans detailed their experiences
famous examples include olad aiano the
interesting Narrative of the life of
olada aano Harriet jacobs's incidents in
the life of a save girl Solomon North
rep's 12 years of slave transcribed by
another author and Frederick Douglas's
Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglas an American slave slave
narratives also included genres of
poetry such as Phyllis wheatley's poems
on various subjects religious and
moral slave narratives are foundational
to American Literature and they serve as
historical accounts documenting the
horrors of the middle passage in the
lives of enslaved people on plantations
for example ao's Memoir describes the
Middle Passage while North's 12 years of
slave details Plantation life and the
strategies plantation owners use to
increase productivity they also serve as
literary works on their own with wheatle
gaining recognition for her poetry
during her lifetime additionally slave
narratives served as political texts
advocating for the end of slavery and
the slave trade demonstrating black
Humanity Douglas's narrative fits his
description as do works by other black
writers like David Walker's and appeal
to the colored citizens of the world
which advocated for the inclusion of
people of African descent and American
society Mary Prince's narrative the
history of Mary Prince a West Indian
slave was the first account of the life
of a black woman to be published in the
UK highlighting the brutality of slavery
in the British
colonies finally here's a recap the
Journey of enslaved Africans started in
the interior of Africa continued to
cross the Atlantic and persisted after
the arrival in North America African
kingdoms engaged in the slave trade to
maintain wealth power and influence in
the region but the loss of population
left the lasting Legacy of instability
in Africa finally slave narratives are
foundational to early American writing
serving as literary Works historical
accounts and political texts
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