Essay about Slaves: Caribbean and Port City Slave

Submitted By Victoria-Booth
Words: 615
Pages: 3
Open Document
Victoria Doyle
December 10, 2014
Psychology 101
George Rutledge
Personality in Slave Victims & Racists

Slaves did not share all of the same experiences. Each has his or her own story to tell. Just as slavery has not been the same throughout the ages, so too does slavery change even within the same time period. Consider how the lives of slaves vary by region, occupation, gender, even by owner. As documented by Olaudah Equiano in his narrative, slaves in England were not treated the same as slaves in Africa, the West Indies, and different regions in America. For instance, a typical male slave on a Caribbean plantation would have endured strenuous physical labor, poor living conditions, a poor diet, emotional and physical abuse, possible torture, only to die young. His very being used up and sucked dry by his owner without thought or care. Most slaves worked 15 to 17 hour days under a hot sun. The work could be dangerous as fire was used to refine the sugar. Many slaves were burned and injured. Due to the lack of medical treatment, many of the injuries were disfiguring and permanent. The plantation slave had very poor housing. As noted in Equiano, “Their huts, … are often open sheds, built in damp places...”. (1) As a result, slaves often were ill or died. “…they contract many disorders, from being exposed to the damp air…”(2) After toiling under the hot sun, a male slave on a Caribbean plantation might attempt to earn some money by gathering grass to sell or use to make baskets. A slave might also try to sell fish he got on his free time or some other goods. Unfortunately, these slaves often had their goods stolen by their owner or other white people with little recourse to seek justice. As a slave told Equiano, “I must look up to God Mighty in the top for right”. (3)

A male slave who lived and worked in port cities had slightly better existence. He might work on the docks loading and unloading cargo on ships. Many male slaves in the ports were skilled workers engaging in such occupations as a clerk and a copper. As such, they typically earned more for their master than the average field hand. Some male slaves were owned by merchants; others were owned by townspeople and were rented out to the merchants. If a slave was rented out to a merchant, the slave was responsible for collecting his earnings and
Show More

Related Documents: Essay about Slaves: Caribbean and Port City Slave

Ch 25 Notes Triangular Trade Essay

1464-1493) created effective army, navy Musket-bearing Moroccan army destroys Songhay forces; regional city-states exert local control ©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3 Swahili Decline in East Africa    Portuguese Vasco da Gama skirmishes with Africans on eastern coast, 1497-1498 1502 returns, forces Kilwa to pay tribute 1505 Portuguese gun ships dominate Swahili ports ©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 4 The Kingdom of Kongo   Relations…

Words 1480 - Pages 6

Compare And Contrast Witte And Pierre Laffitte

France. He died February 5, 1823. He had two siblings, Pierre Laffitte and Dominique You. Jean Laffitte operated out of the port of New Orleans in the early 1800s. Him and his brother started a kingdom called “The Kingdom of Barataria”. This kingdom was an illegal slave smuggling business. He would capture ships from the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. He would bring the slaves and stolen things back and keep them as his own or sell them. Jean Laffitte and Pierre Laffitte were both pirates. They both…

Words 478 - Pages 2

Slavery and Slavery Abolition Act Essay

Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. The Slave Trade began around the 1400’s. Slavery had existed in Europe from Classical times and did not disappear with the collapse of the Roman Empire. Slaves remained common in Europe throughout the early medieval period. Many different countries were involved in the slave trade. The Slave Trade first began in Europe and by the seventeenth century it was in full swing. African people were captured…

Words 2724 - Pages 11

What Is The Main Factor Motivating Americans In France

America’s unknown wilderness attracted men in France, many without women, to cross the Atlantic Ocean in search of a new and prosperous life. France was motivated to establish the colony for: trade, natural resources, expansion of French influence, to spread the Catholic faith and to establish military outposts. Individuals typically came to the New World for economic reasons. Many saw it as an opportunity to work in a new land that offered economic prosperity not found in France. The French…

Words 625 - Pages 3

Essay HIS 154 F14 Terms For Exam 2

was a common theme of the revolutionary movements Canton (Or Guangzhoo) system - served as a means for China to control trade with the west within its own country by focusing all trade on the southern port of Canton (now Guangzhou). This system restricted all overseas European trade to the city of Canton Tanzimat Reforms – internal reforms made by the Ottoman and Russian Empires designed to repress potential fragmentation and meet growing external military and economic challenges coming from…

Words 1368 - Pages 6

European Regional States Strengthen Society

mercenary forces & equipped with gunpowder weps supported by state funds State building process began in Italy. Industrial production profits & trade enriched major cities. Principal Italian states needed large #s of officials to admin complex affairs. Needed ready access to military forces protecting interests 1200s, Italian city states finances needs by levying direct taxes and issuing long-term bonds repaid from treasury receipts Fresh sources of finance, principal Italian states strengthened…

Words 1592 - Pages 7

Go West: Manifest Destiny

to populate the territory with French farmers, and would give the food they produced to the slaves they owned in the Caribbean who worked on plantations for sugar cane. In fear of not being able to get their crops to market because of the French, James Monroe went to France and asked Napoleon Bonaparte for the city of New Orleans in exchange for $7.5 million. At that time, the slaves of the French Caribbean led a rebellion and defeated the French soldiers. Frustrated, Napoleon no longer needed the…

Words 1673 - Pages 7

Essay on APUSH NOTES

Christians on horseback, reached Mexico City 1536 • Paleo-Indians: first Americans, nomadic hunters and gatherers, spread throughout North and South America moving as bands, hunted animals, cultivated food crops new agricultural techniques; 12,000-10,000 BCE; migrated from Asia to North America across Beringia land bridge • Mayas: settled on the Yucatan Peninsula, built urban centers with pyramids and temples, studied astronomy, created elaborate writing system, city-states engaged in constant warfare…

Words 6157 - Pages 25

Columbian Exchange Definition

exchange had profound effects on ecosystems, economies, and cultures globally, reshaping societies on both sides of the Atlantic. 6. What is the difference between a'smart' and a'smart'? Describe the ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE and its effects. ( 2 paragraphs with five supporting details) The Atlantic Slave Trade was a significant historical period from the 16th to the 19th centuries in which millions of Africans were forcibly captured, transported, and enslaved in the Americas by European colonial powers. Ships…

Words 1680 - Pages 7

Trinidad: Trinidad and Tobago and Carnival Essay

Capital: Port of Spain, Trinidad Population: Trinidad and Tobago's population stands at 1,328,019 People of African and Indian descent comprise the majority of the population, with people of mixed race, European, Chinese and Middle Eastern ancestry adding diversity to our ethnic mix. Currency: The local currency is the Trinidad and Tobago dollar. US dollars are widely accepted at an approximate rate of TT $6 to US $1 and you can find rate information at local banks, or the daily newspapers. Euros…

Words 1109 - Pages 5