Sources for Lesson 2: How was the Slave Trade Carried Out?

All of these are from the same document – The Journal of a British Slaving ship commanded by Peter Blake, working between the Coast of Africa from May to August 1675

I made my way ? log with leeway allowed W 43 ? Distance 59 Myles ye Sun neare ye Zenith so that I could have no observation wind this 24 hours from ye S. to ye ESE & from ye NNW to ye ENE with much thunder & lightning & raine this day I put all my slaves out of Irons from noon ye 16th to noon ye (today)

this day have had severall cannoes aboard towhom I sold severall goods for gold & slavesthis 24 hours & I have had ye winde from theWNW to ye WSW littell winde

This morning I heiled my ship to porte & made my starboard bulge as loe as I could work & then righted her againe this day I had severall Cannoes aboard of which I tooke but littell gold & bought 3 slaves this 24 houres I have had ye wind (Various directions) a moderate brease

May 1676 day Att Anchor in Kerlye Bay

Tuesday 23 this day Mr Gascoyne came on board & ordered mee to prepare the slaves for sayle on thursday this day arrived here a fly boat from Learpoole being beatched(?) off the coast of Virginia these 24 houres the wind Att E & E by N a ffresh Gale

Wednesday

24 this day Mr Gascoyne came on boord & delivered me my commission Negroes Alsoe this day ? Slaves being shaved I gave them fresh water to Wash & palme oyle & Tobacco and Pipes Wind these 24 houres from ESE to ENE a moderate Gale

ThursdayMade saile of ? Slaves Severall ArrivedCapt. Parkstone Sayled Brother Seaman

th25

this day about 8 of the Clock Mr Steel and Mr Gascoyne came on board to sell ? Slaves & att 10 of the Clock Capt. Leaman in the providente from Old Callibar came to Anchor in the Road & this Afternoon the hart of Bristoll from the Cape Diward (?)came to Anchor here Also this day the Annirita (?) Capt. Roger Parkstone Sett Saile out ofthis Road bound for London this day wee sould 163 slaves These 24 houres I have had the wind Att E & att E & by N.

FrydayEdw. WorshippDeserted theShipp.

Th26

This morning about 9 of the Clock MrSteel & Mr Gascoyne came aboord to sell ?Slaves this day the Dover dogger Sett Saylefor Spikses Also this day wee sould 70 SlavesThis 24 hours I had ye Wind att ESE & attE a ffresh Gaile.

TuesdayCapt.

Reckord

th30

This day I went on boord with a Planter to sell him some of our(?) refuse slaves but hee didnot Like them & ? went on shoar and Gave MrSteed an Acct. of this Morning Capt. Recordin the John and Alexander from Old CallabarCame to Anchor in this Road The Wind these24 houres from ye ENE to the ESEmoderate Gaile

Wednesday

st31

this Afternoon Mr Man & myself came onboord & Sould 5 of ye refuse slaves this dayMr Simons Commander of a Small Pinckarrived here from London these 24 houresI have had the Wind att E & att ESEa moderate Gaile

Day book of trade in the sloop “Africa” showing goods bartered for slaves as well as payments to local people including the linguist, and payment made for ‘refreshments’ for the slaves.

Date: January-February 1753. Not transcribed – have a go at reading it for yourself

Advice on Using the Source Extracts

As you will see, the source extracts contain a lot of information about the mechanics of the slave trade. We can see slave ship captains recording their daily routines. Notice the following interesting details:

•How they purchased very few slaves at a time. They, therefore, had to stay off the coast of West Africa for many weeks before their ships were full. •How canoes were important for transporting the slaves out to the slave ships•The use of local agents•The mention of irons•The lists of goods which were exchanged for slaves•Other services which were paid for with goods eg. A local linguist and a “butler”•The mention of “Commission Slaves” (the captain’s reward for the doing the job)•The mention of “Refuse Slaves” – what do students think they were?

Also notice some of the issues which are not described in depth, but are implied eg:

•The unique combination of nautical and business skills exercised by the captains•The implied hard-heartedness and cruelty of the captains and crew?•The possible sufferings of the crew in view of the mention of a sailor who had deserted the ship

The above sources are extracts from complete documents which are also available. The above have been put together for purposes of differentiation: if teachers feel that classes will not be able to cope with large untranscribed documents, they can use these shorter extracts instead.