Experiences of people involved in the Atlantic Slave Trade, including on their journey and on their arrival Flashcards
Experiences of slaves — arrival in the Americas:
From the marketplaces of the Caribbean, Brazil
and North America they were inspected, auctioned and
herded onto plantations and into mines.
What was the seasoning period?
The first six months of a slave’s life in the Americas. New diseases, poor nutrition, brutal working conditions and emotional trauma killed many Africans during their seasoning into the life of a slave.
The story of slavery in America’s southern states:
They were the carpenters, metalworkers and stonemasons of the southern states.
An army of domestic slave workers kept the
grand houses clean, the clothes washed and the
white children fed. Slaves were assigned their tasks
according to their age and strength. The slaves’ value
depended upon their age, sex, health and skill. Slaves
were sold, traded and inherited like any other form of
property.
What were Maroons?
Escaped slaves.
Experiences of slaves—the journey from Africa
The captives were chained and marched to the slave
markets located on Africa’s coast. They were then held in prison cells called barracoons until negotiations
with European slave traders began. The survivors
were paraded in marketplaces and publicly examined for physical defects. They were stripped, shaved
and branded before being herded onto the slave ships, known as slavers, for a journey across the Atlantic
that took between one and two months.
Once on board, families were separated, as captives were divided according to gender. During the Middle
Passage journey the men were usually chained together into the cramped and stifling heat of the cargo hold,
while women and children were confined on deck. Men remained in filthy conditions with barely enough
room to sit upright.
What were barracoons?
dark, damp prison cells that were often constructed
under the ground.
