West African Slave Trade

The West African Slave Trade was a global event that focused on West Africa. It was the sale and ownership of another human being that was put into slavery. It was a “forced Migration” that lasted 300 years. It was an event that forced 15, 000, 000 people into slavery for a lifetime. From 1551 – 1850 about 15,000,000 people were brought into the slave trade it is said that roughly 5,000,000 did not survive, and may have immediately died before making through the shock of enslavement. About 10,000,000 people in the western hemisphere survived and were sold on the auction block. Generations continued into slavery, the offspring was also brought into slavery. The owners liked the idea of their slaves reproducing. …show more content…

They were kept chained up in excessively cramped conditions without sufficient food, water, or exercise, throughout the long Atlantic voyage to the Americas and West Indies. They were not fed properly; dying from disease or depression, the slave traders had no interest in their well-being. The dead were thrown into the ocean; millions of people were thrown into the ocean throughout the 300 years of slave trading. The human cargo ships were also known as “death ships”, and could be identified by the smell death and waste when high wind blew and ships sailed into port.
Because of their malnutrition and poor physical appearance, people were brought to the deck of the ship and forced to exercise, 10 at a time. This provoked attempts of either overpowering the men on the ship, to jump off the ships, or attack the slave traders which led to either suicide or getting killed. Some of the men were able to overpower the ships and unchain the slaves, some ships never made it to the ports, because of the overpowering of the ship, or because of the certain weather conditions.
The 5th step of the process would be the final step. Once arrived at the port the victims would be taken to cells to wait for the auction. Looking very weak, doctors were hired specifically to help the victims look presentable. Once the slaves had been worked on, they were put on display for people to choose and bid on. The victims were stripped down to bareness, people would “check” the