Slave Ships
This photo helps give us an idea of what a ship transporting slaves may look like, just as it was being talked about in "Slave Ship" From My People.We are given a description of the kind of conditions that slaves are put through while they are being transported in order to be sold. In this picture, we see the slaves were put in the bottom of the ship with very little room. Because of the lack of space, people are literally stacked on top of each other. Every person shown in this photo looks extremely malnourished and you can see every bone in their body. It seems as if the slave traders crowded as many people as they thought possible into the bottom of the ship so they could make the amount of money they needed. Many slaves had sit at the bottom of ships in such a crowded and uncomfortable way for many days. The transportation of the slaves were not quick allowing for more uncomfortable situations. Slaves were given very few meals, just enough to keep them alive. The faces in the photo displays the miserableness of every person face. This kind of treatment is brutal and it is very sad to see this is the kind of treatment was something that happened frequently to slaves. It paints a vividpicture of the kind of obstacles slaves had to live through.
For some reason seeing this picture the first thing that comes to mind is factory farms. It's almost like the men on these ships were corralled like livestock. Much in the same way as livestock force fed, but only enough to keep them alive. Looking at the picture itself I can understand why our author from the passage was terrified. I cant imagine being in that confined a place. Would they even have the strength of walk or the ability? Like Harriet Jacob's I would assume their joints after being confined would have been a problem for them. The artist of this drawing captures the essence of the slave ships. You can see their tired faces and their deathly thin figures. If you look closely you can even see a chain linking them. To me this brings up the idea that if the boat ever sank, they would be trapped aboard. At least in this picture it appears as though they aren't below deck, for the time being.
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