Crossing the Atlantic

Various quotes describing the Middle Passage:

"There were two schools of thought among the Guinea captains, called the 'loose-packers' and the 'tight-packers.' The former argued that by giving the slaves a little more room, with better food and a certain amount of liberty, they reduced the mortality rate among them and received a better price for each slave in the West Indies. The tight-packers answered that although the loss of life might be greater on each of their voyages, so too were the net receipts from a larger cargo." Black Cargoes, pages 105-106.

"After the morning meal came a joyless ceremony called 'dancing the slaves.' Those who were in irons... were ordered to stand up and make what motions they could...While sailors paraded around the deck, each with a cat-o'-nine-tails in his right hand, the men slaves 'jumped in their irons' until their ankles were bleeding flesh." Black Cargoes, page 114. The process of 'dancing the slaves' was meant to keep the slaves from becoming depressed and also to provide them exercise.

"Upon the Negroes refusing to take food...I have seen coals of fire, glowing hot, put on a shovel and placed so near their lips as to scorch and burn them. And this has been accompanied with threats of forcing them to swallow the coals if they persist in refusing to eat...If the Negroes still refused, they were flogged day after day...Lest flogging prove ineffective, every Guineaman was provided with a special instrument called the 'speculum oris," or mouth opener...The legs were closed and the notches were hammered between the slave's teeth. When the thumbscrew was tightened, the legs of the instrument separated, forcing open the slave's mouth; the food was poured into it through a funnel." Black Cargoes, page 119.

I picked these quotes for the simple fact that I believe they speak volumes about the nature of the slave trade. It is pretty hard to imagine the abuses suffered by the slaves, I think the closest modern comparison we can find would be the Holocaust. There are many more horrific quotes, too many to include them all.