|
|
 |
|
For about a century and a half towards
the late 1600’s, the English were the main slave carriers in
Europe, responsible for approximately 11,000 slaving voyages, which
carried some 3.3 million enslaved Africans across the Atlantic. Ships
left European ports for the Atlantic coast of Africa where they packed
between 200 – 450 Africans into their holds. Then the ships
sailed directly to the Americas and Caribbean to sell their ‘cargo’
and to collect goods such as sugar, tobacco, ivory and gum for resale
in Europe. This ‘triangular trade’ as it has come to be
known, resulted in huge losses of life, from the Transatlantic crossing,
to the seasoning process which ‘prepared’ Africans for
plantation life, and during their enslavement on the plantations.
Enslaving Africans was a profitable business for Europeans, sometimes
more so than others. But for Africans and Africa, the cost was always
assured. It was one of social disorder, economic exploitation and
human misery.
|
Scene
from the African Coast, c.1833 © Anti-Slavery International
On a slave ship © Anti-Slavery
International |
|
|
Scene from the African Coast, c.1833
On a slave ship |
|
