Plan of a Slave Ship's Hold

Illustration

By: Anonymous

Date: c. 1750

Source: The Library of Congress.

About the Artist: This image is part of the collection at the Library of Congress, the national library of the United States and the largest library in the world.

INTRODUCTION

It is estimated that between 1540 and 1850, fifteen million Africans were packed tightly into ships and transported to be slaves in the Americas. Profit-maximizing slave merchants overloaded their boats with would-be slaves, chaining them together by their hands and feet. The journey usually took 60-90 days, but sometimes a trip would last up to four months. Many slaves died from diseases such as dysentery and smallpox. Some committed suicide by refusing to eat, and others were crippled for life as a result of the cramped conditions. Only half of those slaves transported actually became effective slaves in the Americas. Even with the death rate, traders made a decent profit, as one slave bought in Africa was worth three times the amount in the Americas.

The human cargo was typically put into the hull of the ship, which was divided into several makeshift decks or shelves. The space between each was very limited. In an extreme case, it was reported that people were packed onto a deck which only had eighteen inches between the floor and ceiling. Such conditions made it very difficult for the slaves to sit up, or even move around to change their position. During times of rough seas, the people had difficulty keeping their balance. It was not uncommon for the slaves to be trapped, injured, and even smothered to death under a pile of bodies tossed around as a ship rocked. Men, women and children were often put in separate areas. It was not uncommon for owners to exceed the capacity for which their ships were designed. A British House of Commons committee heard a case in which 600 slaves were packed onto a ship designed for 451 people.

The slaves sold to the Americas would often be gathered in the interior of the African continent, and were then brought to the western and northern coasts of Africa to wait for merchant ships coming from Europe. Would be slaves were often kidnapped by other Africans, some were criminals or owed debt to a village chief. In return for slaves and other goods such as ivory, gold, and pepper, African traders and chiefs would be given European farm products, weapons, textiles, alcohol, and brass. Some of the most notorious points of departure for slave ships were the Slave Coast, which included present day Benin, Togo, and western Nigeria; the Gold Coast, which is present day Ghana; and present day Ivory Coast. The ships would sail west with the slaves to the Caribbean Islands, South America, and the southern United States. There they would trade the Africans and other goods for sugar, tobacco, wood, cotton, and other items highly valued in Europe. This route, beginning and ending in Europe, was often called the Triangular Trade Route. The segment of the route from Africa to the Americas was called the Middle Passage.

PRIMARY SOURCE

PLAN OF A SLAVE SHIP'S HOLD

See primary source image.

SIGNIFICANCE

Historians have used a slave merchant ship called the Henrietta Marie to gather information about the design of slave ships. The Henrietta Marie, considered a typical slave-trading vessel, sank off the coast of Florida in the early 1700s, and was discovered in the 1970s. It is the only such ship to be fully studied in North America. The name of the ship was found on its bell, and matched to documents in Europe. The Henrietta Marie was sixty feet long and weighed 120 tons, and its center mast was fifty feet tall. Archeologists consider the ship important for understanding an important part of the slave trade era.

Slaves and slave boat operators who recounted their experience on the ships spoke of violence, unclean conditions, terrible smells, and stagnant air. In acts of desperation, slaves would purposely suffocate one another to free up valuable breathing space in the tight quarters. The slaves were given very little to eat and drink, and those who died would be tossed overboard. Whipping, beatings, and other forms of punishment were used to force the human cargo onto the ships, and keep order on the ships in case the slaves tried to revolt.

The British Parliament and the United States passed bills prohibiting the slave trade in 1807 and 1808. Although this did not end slave trading within the countries, it did outlaw overseas transportation of slaves. Following the passage of these laws, the United States and Britain patrolled the seas off the coast of Africa, stopping and inspecting suspected slave vessels, and confiscating ships upon the discovery of slaves. These slaves would then be transported back to ports in Africa, and set free.

FURTHER RESOURCES

Books

Dow, George F. Slave Ships and Slaving. Salem, Mass.: Marine Research Society, 1927.

Klein, Herbert S. The Atlantic Slave Trade. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Calonius, Erik. The Wanderer: The Last American Slave Ship and the Conspiracy That Set Its Sails. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2006.

Canot, Theodore. Adventures of an African Slaver; Being a True Account of the Life of Captain Theodore Canot, Trader in Gold, Ivory & Slaves on the coast of Guinea. Garden City, N.Y.: Garden City Pub. Co, 1928.