What was merchantilism?
A complex economic theory that aimed to maximise and accumilate profit within the empire.
Profit on Profit
How were slave ships prepared?
- Carpenters rigged up shelving below deck before coast departure.
- Slaves had heads shaved and clothes removed.
Conditions on slave ships?
- Cramped conditions
- Disease common
- Poor diet
What was tight-packing?
Squeezing as many slaves into a ships’s cargo hold as tightly as possible.
Prioritised maximum number of slaves for profit.
Some slaves had no room to lie down or sleep.
Higher death rate.
One captain described it as “like books on a shelf”
What was loose packing?
Fewer slaves were loaded onto the ship to reduce disease and improve survival rates of “cargo.”
Prioritised maximum survival rate for profit.
How were slaves controlled?
Slaves were forced onto deck for 1-2 hours a day to ‘dance (or sing)’ for entertainment and exercise.
Some flogged/killed as punishment to prevent other slaves from revolting.
How were slaves treated on slave ships?
Chained together to prevent suicide/revolt.
Sexually/physically abused.
How were slaves fed?
Fed twice a day. A pint of water often contaminated by human waste.
Menu included: Rice, gruel, yams, cornmeal
Some were force-fed if they refused to eat with a speculum oris.
What did sharks have to do with slave ships?
They followed slave ships because of the intense smell it produced and the dead bodies that were thrown overboard.
What diseases were common in slave ships?
Dysentry, smallpox and yellow fever.
Cramped conditions meant that slaves covered in bodily fluids like urine vomit and faeces.
What were common statistics of the trade?
Voyage took between 6 and 8 weeks.
Roughly 10-20% died of disease/malnutrition/abuse.
1 in 10 slave ships experienced African resistance.
What happened with the Zong ship?
- Captain Collingwood got ill along with slaves.
- This lead to poor navigation
- Led to running low on drinking water.
- Threw 132 slaves overboard to preserve water supply.
- Arrived with half the cargo it had brought. (442 to 208)
- Attempted to claim compensation (£30) per person. (Argument that it was lost cargo).
- Insurers refused to pay, accused of fraud.
- Trial saw slaves as property so insurance had to pay.
This led to public outrage and fuelled the Abolitionist movement.
How did slaves resist on ships?
- Refusing to eat
- Commiting suicide
- A slave revolt
- Spreading disease
- Feining illness.
- Communicating to plan a slave revolt.
- Refusing to follow orders like dancing/singing/moving.
How were slaves punished for resistance?
Whipping, withholding food, abuse or torture such as thumbscrews.
What happened on La Amistead?
- Captured the ship, kept the captain alive to direct back home.
- Captain tricks them to sail to America instead of Africa.
- Put into captivity immediately.
- Murdered sailors/commited piracy. Punishable by death.
- Spanish own the ship, so lay claim to slaves.
- Court trial decides executed/slavery.
- Salvage property rights appeal filed
- Slaves ultimately got their feedom, sent back to Cuba.
