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Jan. 24th, 2008
On the Slave Trade
Jan. 24th, 2008 12:58 pmToday's work includes a couple paragraphs on the slave trade. I'm going to include some of the facts and figures from Redicker's The Slave Ship below; it's interesting (if grim) reading.
The African Slave Trade
Slavery was an ancient and widely accepted practice in West Africa. The trade became international in about the 7th century, with the establishment of an Arab trading circuit that would eventually carry 9 million people across the Sahara for sale.
In the late 15C, Europeans entered the trade. What we now think of as the African slave trade began in earnest in the 1650s, with the spread of sugar production. Initially, the labor demands of sugar plantations was filled by European indentured servants, and then by vast numbers of African slaves who were forced to mass-produce commodities for the world market. The transatlantic slave trade lasted 400 years, and involved the sale of approximately 12.4 million Africans. 1.8 million died in the Middle Passage. Another 1.5 million or so died within their first year in the New World. An estimated 1.8 million people were never traded at all, but died on the coffles (human trains) transporting them to the slave ships.
The average sailor working the slave trade made $4500 (today's dollars) working on board a slaver. The captain of a mid-sized slave ship made about $100,000 per voyage. On a large ship, about $350,000. Most captains, though, made fewer than 3 voyages to Africa. Why? Because the risk of dying or being maimed was very high. 50% of all Europeans who traveled to West Africa died within the year. Crew mortality generally ran between 20-30% during the actual voyage, and the maimed and seriously ill were usually abandoned to die in the West Indies.
But that was then. The slave trade is, unfortunately, still being practiced. See The New Slave Trade and Modern Slavery: Human bondage in Africa, Asia, and the Dominican Republic
The African Slave Trade
Slavery was an ancient and widely accepted practice in West Africa. The trade became international in about the 7th century, with the establishment of an Arab trading circuit that would eventually carry 9 million people across the Sahara for sale.
In the late 15C, Europeans entered the trade. What we now think of as the African slave trade began in earnest in the 1650s, with the spread of sugar production. Initially, the labor demands of sugar plantations was filled by European indentured servants, and then by vast numbers of African slaves who were forced to mass-produce commodities for the world market. The transatlantic slave trade lasted 400 years, and involved the sale of approximately 12.4 million Africans. 1.8 million died in the Middle Passage. Another 1.5 million or so died within their first year in the New World. An estimated 1.8 million people were never traded at all, but died on the coffles (human trains) transporting them to the slave ships.
The average sailor working the slave trade made $4500 (today's dollars) working on board a slaver. The captain of a mid-sized slave ship made about $100,000 per voyage. On a large ship, about $350,000. Most captains, though, made fewer than 3 voyages to Africa. Why? Because the risk of dying or being maimed was very high. 50% of all Europeans who traveled to West Africa died within the year. Crew mortality generally ran between 20-30% during the actual voyage, and the maimed and seriously ill were usually abandoned to die in the West Indies.
But that was then. The slave trade is, unfortunately, still being practiced. See The New Slave Trade and Modern Slavery: Human bondage in Africa, Asia, and the Dominican Republic