Slaves were captured in many countries in Africa. Most slaves came from Senegal, Congo, Sierra Leone and Angola.
They were taken in large boats that were full to capacity with African slaves. The conditions of the boats were terrible. The slaves were tied down on their backs and many went without food or water for their journeys. More shocking is the fact that the slaves were forced to go to the toilet where they laid. So they lived in their faeces and urine for the journey to. Due to these circumstances many African slaves died on their way to another country.
The map below shows the movement of slaves from Africa. It is estimated that 15 million people were taken from Africa to be used as slaves. Many of the 15 million people taken from Africa died on-route to America and Brazil and therefore the number that actually arrived alive in America or Brazil is unknown. Nearly all of these people taken from were forced to work on plantations or in mining.
It is known that Muslims from Arabia and Turkey had transported Africans and Europeans to South East Asia to be used as slaves for centuries before the African slaves were transported to North America. However nothing in the past was on the scale of the capturing and enslavement of Africans to the Atlantic or in the size of its impact on the world.
Here is a clip from roots where Kunta Kinte is being captured by the europeans in africa.
Copyright :Warner Bros. Television
Monday 30 June 2008
