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22 jazz
You didn't need to be 16 years of age or over to qualify for one of these idyllic cruises. In 1842, a Portuguese slaver was seized with a cargo of 250 negroes stored in a hold 18 inches high. The average age of the slaves was 7.
Mercifully, many slaves did not have to endure the whole of these shocking voyages, for they died en route. In 1839, for instance, we have the U.S. Consul at Havana signing with a flourish the ship's papers of the Venus—"one of the fastest sailing vessels ever built/' The Venus had just landed in Cuba a cargo of 860 slaves, 240 of which had died during the voyage. 32 years before this incident, the U.S. had passed laws declaring slave-trading "illegal".
Slave Treatment
And the survivors of these voyages—how were they treated ? Of course, after the conditions in the slave ships, almost any life must have seemed bliss.
But they were treated as animals. Now, some animals are treated quite kindly. But these were human beings—described, in the bills of sale, as "sound" (as if they were cattle), and the mature females designated as "breeders". These animals could (according to the civil code of Louisiana) "do nothing, possess nothing, nor acquire anything but what must belong to his master."
Even at that, the almighty whites were occasionally scared lest the animal should dare to think of reverting to humanity again. As Mr. Berry put it, |
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