Slaves slave-catchers slave-owners slave-sellers?!

FROM
THE INLAND
KINGDOMS of West Africa
slaves were brought out to
coastal trading stations
in land convoys
called "coffles."

In the late 18th Century
the principal British slave-trading post
on the Gold Coast was
Cape Coast Castle.

As many as
10,000 slaves a year
passed through this bleak fortress on the sand flats,
most of them sold by the Ashanti Kingdom
120 miles inland.

Women & docile males
were secured merely by thongs around their necks,
while strong, rebellious men were so fettered
that they could scarcely walk.

Some were linked
neck-to-neck by heavy wooden poles;
others were restrained by timbers which
yoked the leg of one man to the leg of his neighbour.

During a long journey ~ some took 90 days ~ the attrition among slaves reached 60%.

Those who fell and were too weak to respond to beatings were cut out of the coffle
and abandoned to die. A few managed to kill themselves
by eating quantities of clay.

THE COFFLE GUARDS,
hired by the kings & chiefs
who offered the slaves for sale,
showed little mercy even though they at times
were fellow tribesmen
of the captives.

At Cape Coast Castle,
Yankee traders, whose schooners lay offshore,
bought from the kings' and chiefs' agents
and branded the slaves
on the beach.

FOR
A HEALTHY
MAN OR WOMAN
between 18 & 35 the price
was about 150 gallons of rum,
then worth about $90. Having purchased
a full cargo, the traders then sailed & took on a load of molasses.

Then, perhaps with a stop at a southern U.S. port to dispose
of any of the remaining slaves, they returned
to their home ports in New Enland
where the molasses
was distilled
into rum.

Loading rum,
the slave ships sailed back to Africa,
repeating the three-
cornered voyage.

In this
'three-cornered trade',
one of the principal elements of American overseas commerce
from 1720 to 1808, countless fortunes were quickly built. The schooner cost but $4,000;
in a single trip around the triangle a profit
of $40,000 could be gained.

LIFE
ON A
SLAVE SCHOONER
BOUND FOR THE WEST INDIES:
after the Revolutionary War some 200 American vessals
were engaged in slave trade, most of them
operating out of New England -
the port of Newport on
Rhode Island alone
had 150.

They
were small
sloop- or schooner-
rigged ships with crews
of ten to 12 men, and only about 90 feet
in length. But by the use of shallow 'tween decks
they were able to carry an average of 250 slaves, with some
of the larger vessels holding up to 500. The slaves ordinarily spent 16 hours a day
huddled on the 'tween decks, shackled
to each other in long rows,
the women isolated
from the men.

The
decks were
lighted and ventilated
by a dozen small portholes,
which were closed at the first sign
of rough weather, whereupon the heat and stench became frightful.

The average space allotted each slave was 16 inches in width and five and one-half in length.

Shipowners and ship captains took great pains to keep the slave mortality rate low
because insurance companies would not compensate them for those who
died of disease. But, although the ships were fumigated,
the 'tween decks swabbed with vinegar and the drinking
water treated with lime, many slaves died @ sea
of dysentery, smallpox
or general
weakness
...

THERE
WERE ALSO
LOSSES FROM MUTINY:
since the slaves had been
taken from all walks of life in Africa,
most cargoes usually contained a few proud, recalcitrant men who had been chiefs or priests
& who would lead uprisings whenever
the occasion
arose.

To
forestall mutinies
the ship captains occasionally
hired Africans who were willing to pose as slaves,
sleeping among them on the 'tween decks,
and then report
on their plans.

The captains
displayed only rudimentary signs of charity ~
one expressed resentment that the slaves should abuse his kindness by rebelling,
pointing out that he did, after all, allow them to have
pipes and tobacco every
Monday morning.

When
a slave ship
arrived @ its port of sale
in the West Indies or the U.S.,
it was usually found that the slaves
had a sickly appearance and were covered
with sores and abrasions from the chains. So that they
would fetch much better prices, they were forced to smear their bodies
with oil, which coated the sores
and gave their skins a
healthy, glistening
look.

Thus
U.S. slave auctions
@ South Carolina in the 1780s,
could easily find a very young
girl on the block
being sold for
over $1,000.

At the same time
overseers would inspect a slave
for whip-scars, which may indicate he is incorrigible,
while elsewhere a man's teeth were examined for signs of age & a little further on a buyer
made a slave run to test his wind: slaves of all ages were thus especially valued
for physical skills, mental intelligence and total strength, in about
that order of preference, and with prices ranging up to $2,500
for a "trained" {American-born} crafts-man such as
a carpenter, blacksmith or mason,
& down to only $200 for a "raw"
{freshly imported}
drudge
...


M.A.W.:
ten tijde van
onze eigen "Friesche" Johannes Coccejus
{Cock/Coch} & "Hugenootse" Mattheus Gargon @ Vlissingen
die we al eerder & vaker in mydi aanhaalden vanwege hun 'theologische visies'
& tijdgebonden 'eeuwige waarheden' was de wereld eigenlijk ook al [net als nu] vol met oorlogen & geruchten van oorlogen, flagrant aanvallen & vurig verdedigen, soorten van 'lijfeigen-
schap' & allerlei andere vormen van "tusschenmenschelijke" slavernij,
merkwaardige verdelingen van alle beschikbare rijkdom
& natuurlijk ook onze armoe,
ziekte, geweld &
uiteindelijke
'zaligheid'
...