Slavery In late 1700s
Conditions of slave ships
Although slavery in the late 1700s was happening all around the world, much of the slave trade occurred in the Americas. It is estimated that 70,000 slaves were sold to the Americas annually. The slaves were normally kidnapped from their villages and sold to slave traders. Slaves were packed in tight ships with no sunlight. They were packed in lying down and had nearly no room to move. If they were lucky, they would be stored in a space 3 feet high. The unlucky ones were packed sitting in long rows unable to move. Sometimes when the ship tilted from the sea, the slaves on the sides were crushed from all the weight of other slaves. Some captains would provide buckets for the slaves' wastes, but others didn't. There were never enough buckets for everyone and not everyone could reach the buckets since they were all shackled. During humid months, temperatures could reach the hundreds in the tiny compacts spaces. If you imagine the worst possible living conditions, it will be nothing compared to what the slaves went through.
Death on a slave ship
Death was always looming over everyone. It is said that 200 slaves died out of every 1000 who crossed the Atlantic. Many slaves tried to commit suicide in horrible ways. Some would jump over board or ask others to strangle them. The main way the slaves died though was by disease. A disease could spread very easily through the ship since all the slaves were packed tight like sardines. To prevent diseases sailors forced slaves to participate in an activity called a dance. The sailors wielded whips and surrounded the slaves. The sailors then whipped the slaves while they bolted around the ship trying to dodge the whips. Unfortunately, the slaves where shackled so they couldn't move far.
Slavery in the New World
Usually a trip from Africa to the the Americas took 30-50 days. The slaves went through starvation, torture, filth, injustice, and so many other horrors that is it amazing any survived. The ones who did survive were brought to slave markets. In the markets, the slaves were sold in auctions or just by having a fixed price. Once they were sold, they were under complete control by their master(s). Most slaves were sent to work on plantations in Brazil, the Caribbean, or the South. Many plantations produced cotton and tobacco with one hundred or more slaves working on the land. Although the slaves had no freedom, many people argue that they had better working conditions than other free people.
Working Conditions of slaves in the New World
The working conditions of slaves was far from enjoyable, but it was enough to survive. Slaves tended to start work at dawn and end at dusk. They would sometimes be called to work extra hours during harvests. The weekend was the only time the slaves got off unless they got behind on their work during the week days. If they got behind on work, they would be forced to work on the weekend. The slaves of the master's house didn't often get the weekend off and instead worked everyday. Some slaves were allowed to have children while others were not. The children who were born from slave parents were automatically branded slaves. At the age of three they were sometimes ordered to do petty tasks such as picking up garbage. Throughout a slave's life, they were always working.
Living Conditions of Slaves
The shelters the slaves inhabited were only good enough to keep the slaves alive. The slaves lived in small wood and dirt huts with cracks in the walls, allowing the wind and rain to enter. Inside contained basic furniture with a kitchen shared by a few slave families. On the smallest, poorest farms, the owners often didn't have enough money to build huts for slaves so the slaves normally slept in barns or anywhere that was suitable. Although these living conditions for slaves were common, not all slave owners treated their slaves like this. Some would allow them to live in their house and maybe even grant them freedom.
The punishments slaves received were harsh even for the most light offenses. Slave owners felt it was their right to beat their slaves when they felt like it. To understand why slave owners would so easily harm another human being has its roots in racism. Most of the slave owners were white and their slaves were often of dark skin. Also, the black slaves may not speak the language of the white people. When the white people try to talk to them, the slaves will not know how to respond since they don't understand the language. The white people then think that the black people are just plain stupid and need someone to guide them. This is just one of the ways the slave owners justify their rule.
Another way the slave owners would justify owning slaves would be because of the color of their slaves' skin. The white people probably think having black skin makes the person lower than the white people so they think that they can control them. This is obviously not true but many white people believed in this.
Slaves received punishments so often even for minor offenses. If they weren't working hard enough, their master would whip them. Many female domestic slaves received sexual abuse from there masters, even if they didn't do anything wrong. In some areas such as the West Indies, sexual abuse to slaves was acceptable.
Serious crimes such as murder or rebellion resulted in torture or death. Sometimes the amputation of a leg or arm was common, but most slave owners say the importance of their slaves' limbs. Instead, some slaves were whipped for a minor offense. For a major offense, slaves could be flogged to death, hanged, cut apart while being spun on a wooden wheel, or many other terrible ways. These torture methods were used so no other slave would commit a bad crime.
The slaves had no voice in protesting against the harsh treatment brought on by their masters. They could not bring a case to court and they couldn't testify against a white human.