TORTURE: ASIAN AND GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES | JUNE-AUG 2013
Africa to the coast, where they boarded ships first headed for the Caribbean and then to America. The conditions under which African slaves were transported to America were often horrendous and unsanitary. Just as Native Americans had been oblivious to the diseases brought by European settlers, so were the ship doctors oblivious to tropical diseases, which afflicted Africans and Europeans alike. A great number of slaves and traders died from the conditions while crossing the Middle Passage from Africa to the Caribbean. Slaves were packed to capacity, and the men were shackled to one another, meaning that they often couldn’t reach the buckets used as toilets, forcing them to relieve themselves where they sat. With so many people crowded together, the cabins reeked of sweat and defecation and could reach unbearably hot temperatures. These factors combined created inhumane living conditions during the journey. Before the 1700’s, the mortality rate amongst slaves was about 50% during the crossing of the Middle Passage. During the days, slaves were sometimes given free time above deck, although they remained shackled. Food and exercise were forced upon them so they could appear fit for sale on arrival in the Americas. They were often made to dance as a form of exercise while still bound together in groups of 50 or 60. Depression was common amongst slaves, and this, coupled with the sordid living conditions caused many to be too upset or sick to eat. These people were forcibly fed by the slave traders. A speculum oram was a device used by the traders to hold the mouth open while food was forced down it. Other methods included holding hot coals near their lips, pouring lead on their bodies, and breaking their teeth. In addition to the substandard living
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conditions, slaves also were prone to illness from the Europeans, including ophthalmia, small pox, sores, scurvy, and the flux, a violent form of diarrhea. As smart traders carried less people per ship, improved ventilation and provided them with better food and vaccinations, the survival rate of slaves increased during the Middle Passage journey over the course of the 1800’s. To discourage mutiny amongst the slaves, traders would torture one to set an example for the rest. Thomas Phillips, in his book on the journey of the Hannibal, claimed that officers urged him to “cut off the legs and arms of the most willful, to terrify the rest”.2 In response to mutiny, punishment was also horrific. In a testimony written by a ship doctor, the doctor claimed that the captain subject them to cruel treatment, first by making them eat the heart and liver of a deceased crew member and torturing them to death. Making a show in front of the slaves by torturing some to death prevented any future insurrections amongst the slaves.3 Although most of the original slaves were men, whom traders deemed to be better workers, the need to breed more slaves developed in the 1800s, amidst concerns of rebellion and in response to newly imposed import tax legislation by the American and British governments. The desire to produce more slaves caused an equal demand for both males and females. Although a child born in slavery had to be supported and fed through
2 Phillips, Thomas. A Journal of a Voyage Made in the Hannibal of London. N.p.: Walthoe, 1732. Google Books. Walthoe, 4 Mar. 2010. Web. 29 Apr. 2013. <http://books.google.com/books/about/A_ Journal_of_a_Voyage_Made_in_the_Hannib. html?id=qFJBAAAAcAAJ>. 3 Schneider, Dorothy, and Carl J. Schneider. “The Middle Passage.” Slavery in America: From Colonial times to the Civil War : An Eyewitness History. New York: Facts on File, 2000. 27-48. Print.
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