Slavery Passage Analysis

The conditions on the slave ships were rigorous and uncompromising, “the stench of the hold…was so intolerably loathsome.” All of the slaves were kept in the cargo hold and “each had scarcely room to turn himself.” Some of them were suicidal because of the very deficient conditions. “Preferring death to such a life of misery… [three slaves] jumped into the sea.” Slaves were treated with no respect, as if they were animals that had to be taught. “One of.. [the white men] held me fast by the hands…laid me across the windlass… tied my feet… [and] flogged me severely.” The whites had to whip or flog the slaves to make sure they would eat and not leap into the ocean. The reading passage made me feel apprehensive and tense. Just the thought of