The S*XUAL Cruelty On Slave Ships

The history of slavery is one of the darkest chapters in human history and one that still casts a long shadow over modern society. While some people are familiar with the horrors of slavery, many others remain unaware of the full extent of the suffering experienced by slaves, from being captured from their homeland to being transported on slave ships and the brutal sexual cruelty they had to endure on these ships. We’ll be exposing the sexual cruelty on slave ships, so join us as we discuss the traumatic and deadly conditions that African slaves had to endure during the transatlantic journey to the New World.

While it’s common knowledge that slavery involved suffering and dehumanization, it’s less well known that this suffering began even before slaves arrived in the New World. During the voyage from Africa to the Americas, slaves were subjected to extreme conditions that caused untold suffering and death. These innocent people were packed into overcrowded ships and forced to endure unsanitary and inhumane conditions, leading to widespread disease and malnutrition. Sexual advances were even made on both male and female slaves by crew members. According to historical records, an estimated 20 percent of those transported on the ships perished before they reached their destination. The survivors of the voyage would often arrive in the New World weakened, traumatized, and struggling to survive in their new environment.

It will shock you to know that while the slave trade was primarily controlled by Europeans, the actual process of capturing and transporting these slaves to seaports was carried out by Africans themselves. Bands of slavers patrolled the African countryside looking for vulnerable villages where they could kidnap people. This also encouraged conflict and war among African tribes. Due to the high demand for slaves, tribes would wage war against each other to capture prisoners and sell them into slavery. They eventually created a vicious cycle of violence and conflict as rival tribes fought for the control of territory and resources.

In the case of Olaudah Equiano, a former slave and passionate advocate against slavery, he was captured and sold into slavery at the tender age of eight. It all began when he and his sister found themselves alone, entrusted with the responsibility of caring for their home. However, their peaceful existence was shattered when two men and a woman forcefully invaded their house. In the blink of an eye, they were whisked away with no chance to seek aid or defend themselves deep into the heart of the forest. And it was within this remote and foreboding place that their hands were tightly bound, leaving them in a state of despair.

For the slaves that were being captured and taken from their homeland, the journey to the coast was just the beginning of a long, difficult process of enslavement. They were often forced to walk for weeks before reaching the coast, sometimes with little food or water. They were sold and resold to different slave owners along the way. This practice was extremely brutal and often involved the murder of those who resisted. Once the enslaved Africans reached the coast, they were taken to forts or compounds where they waited to be put on ships. When a ship was ready, they were handed over to the Europeans and Americans who would be responsible for transporting them across the Atlantic Ocean.

The journey to the Americas was often long and perilous, and the conditions on board were often deplorable. Before boarding the ships, slaves were branded and often subjected to the dehumanizing process of being stripped naked and inspected. They were examined by crew members or surgeons who were looking for signs of illness or disease. This was done to ensure that only the strongest and healthiest slaves were brought on board; those who were deemed unfit were often left behind or killed. Women were touched on every part of their body, including their genitals, to gauge their reproductive capabilities. Some women, out of shame, crouched to hide their genitals. Men were also sexually abused and touched on the crotch and buttocks.

Once on board, the men, women, and children were kept apart, and the men were chained and sent to the lower decks. The conditions on the lower decks were notoriously horrible, with poor ventilation, little light, and a lack of sanitation. To make matters worse, the height of the lower deck was usually lower than 4.5 feet, and the men were often forced to crouch or lie down for the entire journey with little room to stretch or move around. This lack of movement, combined with poor ventilation and sanitation, led to several health problems for these people. There were no toilets or facilities for disposing of human waste, and the men were often forced to relieve themselves in the cramped and filthy conditions of the lower deck. This created a hazardous environment that was ripe for diseases.

Diseases like typhus, smallpox, and yellow fever were all too common, and many slaves died from these diseases before they even reached their destination. There were also outbreaks of dysentery and scurvy caused by the lack of fresh food and water on board. When the spread of diseases became rampant on slave ships, infected slaves were usually thrown overboard. The reason for this practice was not only to contain the spread of the disease but also because insurance companies would cover the loss of slaves who drowned, while slaves who died from disease weren’t.

A typical example of this event can be traced to a slave ship known as the Zong. In 1781, the Zong departed from West Africa with 442 slaves on board. However, due to several factors, including the spread of disease and water shortages, 62 slaves and seven crew members died during the first leg of their journey. When the ship was caught in a storm, Captain Luke Collingwood and his crew members decided to throw more than 130 slaves overboard to halt the spread of diseases and claim insurance money for the loss of the slaves. In the aftermath of the Zong Massacre, a court case was brought between ship owners and the insurance company. The owners of the Zong claimed that since it was legal to kill animals to stop the spread of disease, killing slaves was no different. In a shocking decision, the court agreed with the owners and ruled in their favor. While the outcome of the case was disappointing, it did bring to light the horrific treatment of slaves on board ships like the Zong during the transatlantic slave trade.

Another well-known incident similar to the Zong case was the case of the slave ship Polly in 1789. Captain James DeWolf ordered a woman who was suffering from smallpox to be thrown overboard even though she had been alive at the time. He was later prosecuted for this act, but he was found not guilty because he defended himself by saying, “It was my duty as a ship’s captain to protect the health of the crew and other slaves on board.”

While the male slaves were usually chained up below deck for the duration of the voyage, the women and children were not always put in chains. This was not because of any concern for their well-being. Instead, it was believed that since they were not as physically strong as the men, they couldn’t revolt and take over the ship. However, this did not mean they were treated any better than the men. The treatment of the women on board the slave ships was even more horrific than what has been described so far. Many of the crew members took advantage of their position of power to sexually abuse the women, often with no regard for their feelings or well-being. In some cases, crew members were even known to select certain women as their favorites, giving them additional food and clothing in exchange for free sexual access. Some of the crew members volunteered to join the voyage only because of the opportunity to abuse African women.

How the ship was designed and organized made it even easier for the crew to abuse the women. Since the women’s living quarters were located in the quarter deck near the officer’s accommodations, there was no barrier between them. This meant that officers could easily access women’s sleeping quarters. Many crew members believed in the European myth that black women were promiscuous and hypersexual and therefore could not be raped. The officers and crew used this belief as an excuse to exploit and sexually abuse these women. The female slaves were subjected to a dual form of abuse that involved both physical and mental torment. White men often took pleasure not only in the physical control they had over the women but also in the emotional and psychological pain they could inflict.

When the weather permitted, men were allowed on deck to wash themselves and receive fresh air for an average of eight hours per day. However, they were separated from these women by the barricade that divided the ship, a barricade also used to protect the crew members in case of revolt by slaves. The slave traders also believed that exercise was crucial for preserving the health of their slaves, and so they forced both men and women to perform exercise. This included dancing, as it was also a means of entertainment for crew members. Those who went about this sluggishly or were deemed disobedient were often tortured and whipped with the cat o’ nine tails, which was a tool that inflicted unimaginable pain when used on anyone. This brutal treatment of slaves sometimes resulted in their death. For example, in 1792, the captain of the Bristol slave ship, John Kimber, was denounced in the House of Commons by William Wilberforce for flogging a 15-year-old African girl to death.

Slaves who could no longer endure the unbearable physical and psychological suffering would occasionally attempt to escape their torment by jumping off the ship to drown. This resulted in slave ships being equipped with netting around the deck to catch slaves who attempted to drown themselves. However, those who managed to plunge into the water were saved, not out of compassion, but to subject them to harsh punishment that would serve as a stern warning to other slaves and to deter further escape attempts. However, many attempts at self-drowning were unsuccessful. Some slaves resorted to a different form of resistance by refusing to eat. Sadly, this led to brutal beatings and the distressing practice of force-feeding accomplished through the use of speculum oris, which was a tool designed to forcefully open a person’s mouth for feeding purposes.