Shameful pages in the history of the development of the New World: how was life for people who became slaves

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

For more than 250 years, one of the most tragic periods in the history of the development of America stretched out, when millions of black Africans were brought here by force, shifting all the hard work onto their shoulders, and this was considered quite normal. This manifestation of barbarism is terrifying in its scale, organized nature, and, most importantly, inhuman attitude towards slaves.

The life of a slave is cruel exploitation, abuse, bullying and humiliation. But still, the living conditions in each specific case depended on the owner, some of the slaves were more fortunate, some less, and some were unlucky at all.

Former slaves who lived to old age recalled:

Mary Armstrong, Texas, 91

Nice Pugh, Alabama, 85"

The flourishing of the slave trade with Africa began after the establishment of the plantation economy. At the beginning of the 16th century, there was a great demand for labor for the rapidly expanding plantations (sugar, cotton, rice, tobacco …). It was from this period that the slave trade began to take on enormous proportions.

Africans, forcibly torn away from their homeland, were transported mainly to plantations in three vast regions of America - to Brazil, the West Indies (Caribbean) and the British North American colonies.

Trade at that time was carried out along the so-called "golden triangle": slaves were taken out of Africa, sold in South America and purchased raw products there, which were exchanged in North America for goods produced in their colonies, and all this was taken to Europe. And again with trinkets we went to Africa for living goods. This was mainly done by large traders in England and Holland.

Capturing Africans and sending them on ships to America

According to various sources, more than 12 million Africans were brought to the territory of the American continent. Their sale was put on stream, in Africa even whole farms were created on which, like cattle, slaves were raised …

When loading on ships, in order to save, the holds were packed full, food and drink were given very little. Millions of people simply died, unable to withstand such conditions. Brazil was one of the largest importers of human goods and experienced the most cruel treatment of slaves.

Plantation work

Basically, slaves were brought in for very hard work on the plantations. Slaves were quite inexpensive, so their life was not appreciated at all, the planters treated them like cattle, trying to squeeze out of them as much as possible.

For an attempt to escape or for unfulfilled work, the slaves were severely beaten, and their children's hands were chopped off.

Even very young children were forced to work, as soon as they began to walk.

With such an unbearable load, people died after 6-7 years, and the owners bought new ones to replace them.

Slave dwellings

Other slave professions

Liberation from slavery

Sometimes it happened that the slaves were given freedom.

The two men in the photo are already freed slaves. After borrowing clothes and hats, they pose for the photographer.

The owners could free some of their slaves for various reasons. Sometimes this happened after the death of the owner according to his will and concerned only devoted slaves who conscientiously worked for him for many years. Usually these were persons especially close to the owner, with whom he often communicated - domestic servants, secretaries, attendants, as well as female slaves associated with him with long-term intimate relationships, and children born from them.

Smuggling slave trade

Back in 1807, the British Parliament passed a law abolishing the intercontinental slave trade. Ships of the Royal Navy began to patrol off the coast of Africa to prevent the transport of black slaves to America.

Between 1808 and 1869, a division of the Royal Navy in West Africa captured over 1,600 slave ships and freed approximately 150,000 Africans.

Despite this, it is believed that another 1 million people were enslaved and transported during the 19th century. When a patrol boat appeared, traders mercilessly dumped Africans into the water.

The photographs at the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth show six Africans who escaped in October 1907 and sailed in a canoe from a slave village when they learned that an English ship was sailing nearby. One of the fugitives fled right in the shackles in which he was chained for three years.

After that, the British detained two slave traders on the shore.

The slavery system existed in the United States from 1619 to 1865. In 1850, the first step towards the abolition of slavery was taken - the import of slaves was banned. And after the Civil War of the North and the South in December 1865, slavery within the country was abolished on the initiative of President Lincoln. The latest slavery on the American continent was abolished in Brazil, and this happened in 1888.

“As sad as it may sound, but it so happened that from time immemorial the world was, is and will always be divided into masters and slaves …” - says photographer Fabrice Monteiro about the series of works “Verigi”, in which he succeeded create photo-dramatization of one of the horrors of slavery.