What it was like to be a slave at the Cape

Question 1

Fill in the blank.

In the city, slaves did _____ ___ of the skilled work.

Answer 1

almost all

Question 2

Name 8 professions a slave would work as.

Answer 2

• Cart drivers
• Bricklayers
• Builders
• Painters
• Carpenters
• Shoemakers
• Tailors
• Boat builders

Question 3

Name four ways a person could become a slave.

Answer 3

• Some were sold into slavery by their families, if the family was poor and could not afford to survive.
• Some could not afford to pay debt, so they were enslaved as a payment of the debt.
• Some were born to parents who were slaves, and so would become slaves themselves.
• Most people who became slaves were captured in wars and then sold to slave traders. People could make a lot of money from this, so they started wars just so that they could take slaves. Slaves were tied to each other so that they couldn’t escape while being transported.

Question 4

How were slaves brought to the Cape?

Answer 4

They were taken from their homes to the Cape on ships.
- Sometimes the DEIC sent a ship to the east just to get a load of slaves.

• Some Dutch DEIC officials working in the east bought slaves. Slavery was illegal in Holland, so on their way home to Holland they sold their slaves at the cape. They got a better price for the slaves in the Cape than in the east, so they made a good profit from doing this.
• Some slave ships stopped at the Cape on their way to Europe or the Americas from Madagascar. They would sell some of their slaves while they were there.
• Some slaves were carried by ships that were carrying other goods for trade. traders bought the goods and the slaves in the east and took them all to Europe or the Americas to trade.

Question 5

Give 6 important facts about slaves.

Answer 5

• The highest valued slaves came from European fathers and slave mothers.
• Slaves became angry and resisted.
• Slaves had to carry passes around when they moves locations.
• Some slaves were tortured using an instrument called the Wheel.
• If a. slave attempted escaping twice and got caught, their noses ears or right hands would be cut off sometimes.
• Some slave mothers didn’t have the rights to their own children.