The Slave Trade free essay sample

This is a way of thought that we are taught as soon as we are deemed old enough to understand it. Slavery is an idea that is almost as old as the human race and, considering that, we have only moved away from it recently. It took the cruelty and mistreatment of more than 10 million Africans to finally make people realize that what they were doing was terrible, and that human beings should be treated with a certain level of respect and kindness. Right when Slavery was becoming a controversial practice there were two men who wrote regarding the matter: Omaha GuardBasque, who experienced slavery first-hand, and Robert Walsh, who dealt with slavery from the side Of opposition. Both Of their accounts paint a terrible picture of the slave trade, the focus of both being on the inhumane treatment of the enslaved. Basque was captured and experienced slavery first hand, so his account shows how deplorable the slave trade was. We will write a custom essay sample on The Slave Trade or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Basque tells of his journey from his home to the coast of Africa which, though eventful and unpleasant, is nothing compared to the sea voyage.It was during the voyage that the real horror of the slave trade was brought to life, both physically and mentally: Pity the poor African, who has been trepanned and sold away from friends and home, and consigned to the hold of a slave ship, to await even more horrors and miseries in a distant land.. . Babushkas words really tell of the sorrow that slaves felt, being ripped away from their home and destined to a strange land full of people who will treat them as objects to be bartered for, traded, and eventually discarded.The conditions aboard such slave ships were abysmal. The slaves were treated worse than livestock: being crammed into incredibly tight spaces, given very little water, and were only allowed to lean themselves twice over the course of the entire journey. The hold was so low that we could not stand up the loathsomeness and filth of that horrible place will never be effaced from my memory we suffered very much for want of water As the slaves made their way to the Americas they are denied food, water, and rest, turning the trip into what could be described as a living hell.Babushkas biography shows that the mistreatment of the slaves is what he believed to be the worst part of the slave trade. Robert Walsh was stationed on a ship that was hunting for slave ships, and hen they capture one he describes the conditions they found to be awful. Once onboard, Walsh notices immediately that the slaves are being treated poorly and, as with Basque, of an equal or worse quality than livestock: As they belonged to, and were shipped on account of different individuals, they were all branded, like sheep, with the owners marks The slaves that Walsh finds are branded, another indicator that they are only property, and not considered to be anything more. If anything, the conditions in the ship that Walsh boarded appear to be worse than that of the ship Basque was rapped in: some were greatly emaciated, and some, particularly children, seemed dying packed up and wedged together in low cells, three feet high shut out from light or air Even at its best, the slave mortality rate during their journey was only a little under 1 0%, this being due to mistreatment and the terrible conditions in which they were forces to reside.It is obvious that both Basque and Walsh noticed and were appalled by the neglect of basic human rights for the slaves. In both accounts, the focus points towards the terrible treatment of the Africans. Basque and Walsh can both agree that the slave trades worst specs is how the slaves are mistreated, often to death. With clear looks into slavery such is these circulating during that point in time, its no surprise that the slave trade was soon outlawed.