Slavery Project

Slavery in the Caribbean Islands: Jamaica, Barbados and Cuba

The places where slavery was the worst in the Caribbean was in the places that the French and English Empire had already taken over. By the end of the 17th century the rate of slavery went up because the production switched from tobacco to sugar. When people farmed sugar it took more slaves to harvest it that it did tobacco. The high demand for sugar in Britain caused the need to raise more sugar in the Caribbean greater. As the demand got higher the need for more slaves and harder work increased. But the slave trade didn't just leave a greater need for slaves but also a need for people who knew how to build ships. When the slaves were transported the need for ships increased because when the slaves were taken over to the places they were designated for they used quite a few ships because they were trading all the time and they were always using ships either for transporting slaves or for the use of trade of goods. When the shortage of ships presented itself then there became a greater need for people to work in the ship yards and build more ships for the use of slave trade.
Jamaica and Saint Domingue became 2 of the islands that were more brutal to slaves. Most of the people that they enslaved where black and during that period the death rate was higher than the birth rate. The birth rate dropped 3% in Jamaica .This indicates that more people were being killed than being born. This could also have been done as a form of resistance. Mothers did not see the point of having children if they were going to be used as slaves so they did not reproduce as a way to punish their masters. In other ways the slaves would sing songs to insult their masters and then pretend to be ignorant to avoid the punishment. Most death was caused by malnutrition and overworking the slaves. These slaves were worked from sun up to sun down. These slaves had been imported from Africa and there were so many that 85% of the population was slaves. A lot of these slaves either tried to rebel or they succeeded. This included self mutilation, suicide and escape. The slaves that did escape often started there own colonies. These slaves were usually taught English so that they could understand their masters but it was forbidden for them to speak that language when the day was over.

Triangle trade was a form of slave trade but it involved more than one continent. It began in the seventeenth century. A ship would leave Europe and head for Africa around the Gulf of Guinea. Once they reached their destination in Africa they would trade weapons, ammunition, copper, liquor, cloth and pots for either captives from raids and wars or slaves that they had no use for but were in good condition. Then the ship would travel to Cuba, Jamaica and Barbados and trade the slaves for things such as sugar, rum, rice, coffee, tobacco and cotton. Then they would return back to Europe with these goods. If you were to look at this on a map it would look at a triangle hence the name "Triangle Trade". These trades can also be known as the "Transatlantic Slave Trade".

Between 1540 and 1850 it is estimated that more than 11-12 million people were transported on slave ships. These ships were very unhealthy and did not leave most of the slaves in good conditions. An average slave ship was made to hold about 440-450 slaves but many times held more than 600 slaves. These slaves were chained together at their hands and feet with things known as leg irons. These leg irons were not completely round so they did not fit around the ankle comfortably. The picture below is an example of way leg irons looked like. These leg irons are individual but the ones used for the slaves had at least 4 to 5 sets on one chain allowing people to be grouped when loaded.

These slaves were piled in the ship like sardines. When the slaves entered the ships they were put in a certain area. Then the would have to lay down on their backs as flat as they could and lay as still as they could. But the way they were placed in the ship there was not much room to move anyway. This is an example of how the slaves may be arranged in a slave ship.

This is an image of a ship with 2 tiers. The picture on the top is the upper deck and the picture in the bottom is the lower deck. Between the beams separating the slaves that were stacked on shelve like things were 2 ft 7 inches. That is what they had to squeeze into. When you have a space that small you can catch anything such as small pox. If on of the slaves got sick and they were really bad then they were thrown overboard. But this picture demonstrates the hard ride because you can see the people and how they were so tightly squeezed into the ship.

So in conclusion you can see that during this time period people had it rough. The slaves were dying faster than slave women were having kids. Some thought that this was a way of revolting. These slaves were getting sick from the ride to the Caribbean Islands and they could not be cured. This was a difficult time for everyone and when it ended around 1850. This was monumental but there was still some slave trade in Jamaica. But all in all when this slave trade stopped, the world in that area got better.