Slave Ship Conditions
The Equiano team's Omeka project really highlighted the horrors that were slave ships. I'd gone over the conditions briefly in previous history classes, but looking at that 3D model emphasized just how cramped and overcrowded those ships were. Often the slave trade is described as treating slaves as human property, and the conditions on slave ships reflect this perfectly. With as many Africans shoved below deck as possible, their conditions were likely worse than those of animals, as cattle was likely fed better. Even worse is that the ship's crew wouldn't even allow the Africans the dignity of dying on their own terms, because they were deemed cargo too valuable to lose.
However, at the end of the day the kidnapped Africans were still considered disposable and replaceable. I heard of at least one case, and I'm sure that there are others, where a slave ship was overloaded. As we saw in Equiano's narrative, a ship's crew will generally toss its less valuable cargo overboard to lighten it. However, this particular ship's "cargo" was kidnapped Africans, so the solution was to throw one African, who was chained to several more, overboard.
That's just one documented example of the horrifying conditions on slave ships. I'm sure there are more documented and even more that simply disappeared. Slave ships are a prime example of how little the enslaved Africans were respected and how, the second they left their home, their humanity was gone.
I am really glad you got something out of our group excursion and I am glad to hear the 3D model was impactful to you! When researching, I thought the 3D model was a very important thing to add, as it creates a very visual understanding of what it was really like. While 2D images and writing can convey this too, seeing it in a more "real" way by seeing it in a 3D form helped me see, at least, how real and horrific they were.
ReplyDeleteI also found the 3D model really insightful. It just shows how inhumane and horrific these ships were. I think that diagrams and models such as that one needs to be shown more to emphasize how enslaved people were viewed and treated by Europeans/colonists.
ReplyDeleteI also appreciated the 3D history model that was included in the Equiano team project. It was a great way to include the interactive map and allow the viewers of the site to go to an external site with more information. When I was looking at the #d model, I also thought about the lack of space and brutal conditions the slaves had to go throigh, as the white owners had no regard for their conditions. As you ststed, the kidnapped slaves were seen as disposable and replacabke which is exactly how they were seen which is very disgusting to think about. Again, it is great that we are educating ourselves on this topic.
ReplyDeleteThe example you refer to is the slave ship the Zong, and they tried to recover insurance costs for those discarded slaves, which is how the case became so widely known.
ReplyDeleteThis all makes me wonder, at what point did they all actually begin to realize that less cargo (in terms of quantity of slaves) was actually far more efficient and would likely be better for all parties? The amount of unnecessary death seems absurd, so I'm wondering what other factors besides pure incompetence led to this continuing to happen, on top of just pure cruelty.
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