Chris Vaughn
Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Paper
Recently I took a trip to Ghana with a class from Indiana University to trace the Trans
Atlantic Slave Trade. Growing up in America attending an American school I had only been
exposed to a small part of the slave trade. So while on this trip I learned many things about the
Trans Atlantic Slave Trade that I was not aware of before. There are things that I saw that
illustrated how much more wretched and inhumane slavery was then what I once thought.
There are questions on the role Africans played in the slave trade that left with me answered.
From my personal experience tracing the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade I was able to see, touch,
feel, taste, and hear firsthand pieces of history that played a pivotal role in the slave trade. I
cannot explain how beneficial this trip was for me, but I can share my experience and the
knowledge I gained from it in hopes that others will be inspired to make the eye opening
journey to Ghana. Through my experience with the slave trade coupled with a summary of its
history I hope to paint a visual picture of what it is like to experience the remnants from one of
the world’s darkest times in history.
It all started with the arrival of the Portuguese in 1471. They arrived on the coast of
Ghana known as the Gold Coast at the time. The Portuguese built Elmina Castle in 1482 as a
trading post after discovering that the land was rich with gold. In order to keep the find to
themselves the Portuguese returned to Europe to tell everyone that Africa was a bad place full
of dangers and to stay away if they did not want to find death. After the expedition of a
Portuguese explorer named Vasco da Gama’s to India and his establishment of sugar
plantations on Madeira, Canary, and the Cape Verde Islands the need for agricultural labor
increased. The discovery of the New World and the Caribbean was also a big contributor to
increased need of labor. Since War was taking place all over Africa the need for weapons
increased among the African people. So the Portuguese began trading weapons as well as other
items for large amounts of African slaves. The slaves were then exported to the plantations and
to the New World where they could then be traded for hefty sums of gold. The increasing need
for trade of weapons and other European goods to the Africans for slaves lead to a market
known as Salaga located in the Northern Region of Ghana to become the central hub for the
purchasing of slaves (Portuguese Exploration and Trade).
As part of tracing the slave trade our class visited Salaga in which the remnants of what
was once a slave market remain indicative of what took place there. While there we visited a
museum that housed chains and shackles as well as other artifacts. We saw the place where the
slaves were bathed and rubbed down with Shea butter so that they would shine and glimmer
for the buyers. We saw where the slaves after being purchased were branded with clad iron
rods engraved with what was essentially a packaging label at the very tip. The tour ended at the
place the slaves bodies ended up if they dared to die before being transported to the coast. At
the graveyard there was an overbearing presence that seemed to entrench most of us into a
state of sadness and anger at what had taken place at Salaga. We all paid our respects and left
with saddened looks on our faces.
The journey from Salaga to the coast was very long so along the way the Portuguese set
up slave camps in order to rest, stock up on supplies, and to feed and bathe slaves. The stay in
the camps would sometimes last as long as a week if that amount of time was needed to rest.
In the camps slaves were forced to groove out their own spot in a big rock to serve as their food
bowls. The slaves were given just enough food to survive that way they never got strong
enough to lead a successful resistance against the masters. If any of the women had a baby
while at any of the camps its head was smashed against a tree and the body was tossed away in
the graveyard. So the slaves wouldn’t try to escape there was a watch tower at every camp
where someone would be stationed in order to make sure that the slaves that did attempt to
run away were brought back. If a slave was caught trying to escape they were captured and
chained to punishment rock where they sat naked in the scorching sun without food or water
until they died. The other slaves were made to watch the punishment the runaway slave
endured to deter any of the other slaves from doing so. As entertainment for the masters and
as a way to keep the slaves busy they were given time to make music, dance, and sing. This
time also helped the slaves deal with their situation. Before beginning the journey to the next
camp the slaves were bathed to keep them nice and marketable. Starvation during the stay at
the camps and exhaustion from the long grueling journey to the coast caused many slaves to
die before ever making it there.
In tracing the slave trade our class had the opportunity to see one of the many slave
camps that were used during the slave trade. It is called the Pikworo Slave Camp and it has
become a tourist attraction for anyone interested in learning about the camp. All the evidence
was there. The bowls that the slaves were served their food in were scattered all across a huge
rock hill. There was a large hole in the ground that was used as a bath for the slaves to be
cleaned. In the next area there was a large rock where the guides stopped to demonstrate with
small stones how the slaves created music. It was surreal to see the guides perform and to think
back to when the slaves performed how much that rock and those small stones must have
helped them coup with their situation. There was an area high up a hill that would have made a
perfect watch tower to spot any slave that tried to escape. Right next to the graveyard there
was a rock that looked like a seat. It was the punishment rock and after I sat down on it just for
about thirty seconds I began to sweat because of how hot the rock was. Slaves had to sit on the
rock naked under the sun until they died and I cannot even imagine how excruciating that must
have been. The trip from Salaga with subsequent stops at various slave camps such as Pikworo
before arriving at the coast had to have taken weeks maybe even a month to complete. It is
believed that more than half of the amount of slaves that took the journey did not make it to
the coast. I cannot even begin to imagine how anyone could survive a journey so long chained
at the feet and shackled at the wrist with only handfuls of food and water. For the ones that did
it must have taken incredible will and strength to endure such hardships. To even begin to think
that the slave’s voyage to the coast was only half of what they had to go through before their
final destination is unfathomable.
The journey for the slaves after walking for months from the slave market to the coast
was far from over. The slaves still had to be transported from the coast across the ocean to
wherever they were needed. Before arriving at the Coast the slaves had their last bath so they
would like nice and shiny for the buyers at Elmina Castle. At the last bath any sick or dying
slaves as well as any babies were murdered then tossed in the river. After arriving at Elmina
Castle the slaves would be held there until the next ship would come to take them their next
destination. The slaves would sometimes have to stay in Elmina castle for months before a ship
would come. The conditions the slaves endured during that time were despicable. The slaves
were stuffed into cells by the hundreds which made it very difficult for the slaves to maneuver
around. The cells had small ventilation holes that provided the slaves with very miniscule
amounts of fresh air. The cells did not have a place to dispose of human waste so they were
filled with urine, excrement, sweat, and menstrual blood. The slaves as well as the cells were
not cleaned so slaves slept in their own waste. The slaves were feed only enough food and
water to keep them alive until the ships came to take them away. Any slave that had enough
energy to cause a ruckus was thrown into a separate cell where they were left without food or
water until they died. Their body was then thrown out to the ocean for sharks to feast on. In
fact any slave that died while staying at the castle was tossed into the ocean to the sharks. The
female slaves were kept in cells separate from the male slaves. The female slaves were kept
closer to the Governor’s chamber so that whenever he wanted to acknowledge their human
similarities he could do so discretely. The only time any slave was let out of their cell was when
the governor was picking out which female would join him that night in his chamber. As a result
of what in most cases was rape some of the female slaves became pregnant in which case they
were allowed to have the baby. The baby would grow up at the Castle and live a life similar to
other children that lived at the castle. Once a ship arrived at the castle the slaves were gathered
shackled then taken to the door of no return where there last steps on Africa where taken
before a small boat would take the slaves out to the ship that would be transporting them to
their final destination. When coming to this door it would be the last time family members had
to see each other before being separated permanently. The space the slaves had to go through
when exiting the castle through the door of no return was made very small so that the slaves
could not plot an escape. While on the small boats some slaves jumped into the ocean to try
and swim back to shore, but the current of the Atlantic Ocean swallowed them up before they
could make it back.
Today Elmina Castle is a World Heritage Monument and tourist attraction that sees
many visitors coming to learn about and experience its unnerving history. During the class’ stay
in Ghana we had the privilege of visiting Elmina Castle in which saw and experienced firsthand
all of the haunting history of the structure. First let me start by saying that the castle is a
gorgeous building complimented by the surrounding greenery along with the rippling blue
ocean and the luminous cream sand. It is truly ironic how such a beautiful and serene place can
contain such a gruesome and ugly past. When we entered the castle there was a canon ball and
chain on display which we later found out was where rebellious slaves were shackled to the ball
and left in the sun to die. The tour guide came over and started the tour off with a brief history
of the Castle. Shortly after the history lesson we headed towards the female dungeon where
the tour really kicked off. Upon entering the female dungeon the wind carries with it a certain
stench which resulted in a subtle realization at first, but then it hit me hard just how wretched
the conditions of the dungeons had to have been for the smell of excrement and urine to still
linger in the air. Only after the smell came over me was I able to piece together what had
caused the greenish brown mold to form along the floor of the dungeon that was clearly
missing from the floor in the court yard. I could envision the female slaves shackled hundreds to
a cell with little to no room to move screaming in different African dialects while others were
laid flat on their backs covered in their own waste devoid of life. As the tour guide continued to
talk I could see a line of women standing in the middle of the yard awaiting the governor to
solidify his seat in hell as he made his decision on who was to be raped that night. The tour
guide ended his brief talk about the female slave dungeon and we moved on. The guide then
ushered us all into a room where the door was marked with a skull and cross bones then shut
the door and lowered the lock. At that moment the breath of every member in the group gave
a resounding gasp because right then we all knew how it felt to be locked away unsure of what
to expect. We were then taken to what is known as the “door of no return” where the slaves
would set their last foot on Africa before being shipped off to the New World. It was hard to
imagine how tiny the slaves must have been to fit through the incredibly small space that the
door occupies. The tour proceeded to the upper portion of the castle which was distinctly
different from the lower portion where the slaves were kept. There were plenty of windows
which made obtaining fresh flowing air and sunlight a breeze while the slaves had only a set of
small holes in wall. The rooms upstairs were large and provided enough space for at least two
people to live very comfortably while downstairs in the dungeons the slaves were packed by
the hundreds in a very small space. The more one travels through the castle little ironies can be
found left and right. We were taken to the place where the Dutch had church service and it just
so happened to be directly over the slave dungeons. The real irony of it lies in the twisted fact
that there was even a church in a place that was used for such atrocities. There entire tour was
a frightening experience. I could see vividly the horrifying images of what had taken place in
Elmina Castle shuffling through my mind the entirety of the tour and they will forever be
engraved there.
After realizing that the Portuguese had been lying about their discoveries on the Gold
Coast the Dutch decided they would make a trip there to see for themselves what the Gold
Coast had to offer. When the Dutch arrived at the Gold Coast they saw that the Portuguese had
already built a fort along the coast and they wanted possession of it. The native people of the
Gold Coast were tired of the slave trade and they wanted the Portuguese out. So the Dutch
tricked the natives into helping them take over Elmina Castle by saying that they would end the
slave trade when they had no intention of doing so. The natives took the Dutch to St. Jago hill
where they would have an advantage over the Portuguese. In 1637 the Dutch used the hill to
lead their attack on the Portuguese and were successful in taking over Elmina Castle. Despite
what the Dutch told the native people they continued the slave trade and made things even
worse for them. Not too long after the Dutch other nations came to the Gold Coast trying to get
their share of African goods including slaves (Anquandah). The Swedish constructed a fort on
the Coast which after a few changes of possession ended up in the hands of the British. The fort
was then called Cape Coast Castle which it is known as today (Maxon Cape Coast). Cape Coast
Castle acted as the base of operation for the British in the slave trade until the slave trade was
abolished in 1807 in Great Britain (kurahulanda.com). Elmina Castle and Cape Coast Castle are
two of the largest Castles along the Gold Coast and played a pivotal role in the exportation of
slaves across the Atlantic Ocean (Maxon Cape Coast).
Cape Coast Castle just like Elmina Castle has become a World Heritage Monument and
like Elmina our class also made a visit to Cape Coast. Unlike Elmina Castle Cape Coast Castle was
built for housing slaves so the dungeons were much larger. The Dungeons at Cape Coast could
hold around 1000 male slaves and 500 female slaves while Elmina could only hold around 400
male slave and 300 female slaves (Maxon). My experience at Cape Coast Castle was a bit
different than my time at the Elmina castle. The tour started off with a brief history of the castle
then we headed for the male dungeon. We walked through the entrance to the male dungeon
and down this pitch black walkway. The ground was eroded and slippery so we had to be
cautious of our steps. When we reached the bottom that stench the same as the one from
Elmina hit me in the face harder this time as it was much stronger than before. The guide
brought us to a stop right in front of one of the male dungeon cells. He explained how that so
much human waste had accumulated over the years of the slave trade that it still remained
inside the cell blocking off the entrance, that is before it had all been shoveled out and spread
across the floor sometime in the late 1950’s. So essentially we were walking on the blood, on
the sweat, and on the feculence of our ancestors. I was in awe by the guide’s proclamation so
much so all I could do was stare stupidly at the ground wondering how any human with half a
heart could demand such despicable living conditions on another human. We moved around
the dungeon only able to see because of a light that had been installed to make it easier for the
tour guide and tourists to navigate without tripping over things. The dungeons would have
been pitch black during the slave trade and with how small the ventilation holes were I am sure
it must have been quite humid as well. The dungeon was large, but filled with 1000 slaves there
wouldn’t have been much if any room to move around. Some of us noticed a large hole at the
top of one of the walls in the dungeon. The tour guide explained that the large hole was used
by soldiers to spy on the slaves. Our tour guide took us out of the male slave dungeon over to
where the slaves who got a little to feisty were sent to die. Right as we entered the room a
wave of heat came over us almost as if we had just stepped into a sauna. Immediately after
entering the cell I started sweating profusely. The tour guide then scurried outside to shut the
door. The room went dark. A gasp of realization came over everyone in the room. We were able
to visualize the slave stuffed cell. We could see the slaves clawing the walls with their bloodied
nails. We could almost taste the odor from the sweat that would have poisoned air. I can only
image how absolutely torturous it must have been for the slaves to live the remaining days of
their life locked away in a dark dank cell left there to suffer from starvation and dehydration.
Our tour continued from the cell up to the second floor of the castle. Like Elmina Cape Coast’s
2nd floor was the housing area for the governor, the soldiers, and whoever else lived at the
castle and also like Elmina the second floor was much more ventilated with plenty of space. The
Castle also featured a church and a school so that the people there could go about living a
regular life while the slaves below lived in the most dreadful of conditions. After touring the
upstairs we broke off from the tour guide into two groups. A group of males went off to the
male dungeon while a group of females went off to the female dungeon. Upon returning there
we paid our respects to our ancestors and prayed that they rest in peace.
After surviving the walk from Salaga to the coast and life in the cells at Elmina Castle and
Cape Coast Castle there still remained a good twenty five percent of the trip left to endure. The
slaves still had to survive the long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean also known as the “Middle
Passage” to the New World and to the Caribbean. The Middle Passage took at least 6 weeks
and the conditions for the slaves aboard the ships were abysmal. The conditions on the ship
were so bad in fact that 10 to 20 percent of the slaves died during the passage. Slaves were
shackled at the feet and kept under the deck laid in strips across the floor. There was hardly any
room and it was dark with little fresh air. Some slaves committed suicide by starving themselves
and others even tried jumped over board only to be eaten by the sharks that lurked around the
ships knowing that if they stayed diligent in their efforts a free meal would surely come. If one
slave began starving themselves by refusing to eat the food they were given the other slaves
would catch on and follow suit. The crew aboard the ship would act quickly to try and prevent
any of the slaves from dying from starvation by using forceful methods to make the slave eat.
They would beat and torture the slaves, crush fingers and thumbs, or force feed them food to
prevent starvation. The Middle Passage was a long as it was terrible to suffer, but even it
cannot compare to the lifetime of servitude that awaited the slaves that survived the passage
(McElrath).
Slaves had to endure so much pain and suffering and from the time they were
captured until their death they were treated as less than human. They were separated from
their families most likely never to see them again except for when passing through the door of
no return and that is only if they survived the appalling conditions of the slave dungeons. It is
sad to think that most of what I know today may not have been possible had America not been
built on the backs of slaves. One of the things I learned in Ghana is that only a small fraction of
slaves were taken to North America compared to Brazil and Haiti. In fact over half of the total
amount of slaves exported from Africa went to Brazil and Haiti. However, slaves were also
taken to France, Great Britain, Portugal, Spain, and many other nations that still exist today
(slavevoyages.org). Essentially the slave trade involved the entire world. So let me rephrase my
statement from before. It is sad to think that many of today’s nations may not exist had it not
been for slave labor. Even so nothing can justify what took place in the many places that played
a role in the slave trade. None of what we have today is worth the inhumanity it took to obtain
it. That being said what has been done is done and there is no way to change it now, but we can
do whatever is in our power to insure that it never happens again. Being able to share my
experience through my writing is something that I hope helps sway the hearts of many to come
to Ghana and absorb a piece of African culture while also enlightening oneself to the history of
the slave trade so that it may never be forgotten.
Works Cited
Anquandah, Kwesi. "Castles and Forts." ghanaexpeditions.com (1999) Web.15 Jun 2009.
<http://www.ghanaexpeditions.com/regions/highlight_detail.asp?id=&rdid=122>.
"Abolition of the Slave Trade." kurahulanda.com Web.15 Jun 2009. <http://www.kurahulanda.com/slavery/slavetrade>.
Maxon, Mark. "Ghana: Cape Coast." maxon.net Web.15 Jun 2009.
<http://www.moxon.net/ghana/cape_coast.html>.
Maxon, Mark. "Ghana: Elmina." Maxon.net Web.15 Jun 2009. <http://www.moxon.net/ghana/elmina.html>.
McElrath, Jessica. "The Middle Passage." About.com 10/02/2001 Web.15 Jun 2009.
<http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/slavery/a/middlepassage.htm>.
"Portuguese exploration and trade: 1450-1500." about.com Web.15 Jun 2009.
<http://africanhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa101101a.htm>.
"The Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database." slavevoyages.org Web.15 Jun 2009.
<http://www.slavevoyages.org/tast/index.faces>.