Exposing the Diabolical Atrocities Against African Women Inside Slave Ships

As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting its long shadows across the unforgiving Atlantic, a haunting narrative unfolded, stretching from the 16th to the 19th century. These were the years when slave ships, vessels of despair and agony, undertook the notorious 'Middle Passage' as part of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Within the bowels of these floating prisons, one chapter remains especially gut-wrenching: the appalling ordeal faced by enslaved African women.

Imagine the year is 1700, and you are aboard the 'Brookes,' a ship infamous for its inhuman conditions, captained by men whose names have been etched in infamy. Figures like James DeWolf, an American slave trader, and John Hawkins, an early English slave trader, come to mind—men who profited from this dark enterprise. Can you fathom the depths of despair that consumed the souls aboard these ships? What must it have been like for women, torn from their families and their homelands, their lives reduced to mere commodities?

As we navigate these harrowing waters, we are confronted by the haunting account of Olaudah Equiano, a former slave who purchased his freedom and became a prominent abolitionist. : "The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying, rendered the whole scene a scene of horror almost inconceivable." His words ring out across the centuries, a vivid testament to the "horror almost inconceivable" that was the reality for enslaved women aboard these ships. Join us as we delve into this deeply unsettling chapter of human history and shed light on the heinous treatment of women aboard slave ships. Welcome to the diary of Julius Caesar.

The Sorrowful Symphony of the Atlantic. Unveiling the Horrors and Scale of the Slave Trade.

In the annals of human history, few tales are as gut-wrenching and unsettling as the Atlantic Slave Trade, a complex and tragic web that spanned continents, cultures, and centuries. Embarking on this narrative journey takes us from the sun-soaked coasts of West Africa to the burgeoning colonies of the New World, across the treacherous expanse of the Atlantic Ocean—a vast body of water that became a graveyard for millions of African souls.

The genesis of this unimaginable human tragedy could be traced to the 16th century, when the Portuguese began to kidnap Africans and ship them to sugar plantations in the Americas. But the trade burgeoned in scale with the British, French, and Dutch joining the fray. Over 12 million Africans were estimated to have been transported during the period from the early 1500s to the late 1800s, but some estimates range even higher, accounting for those who never survived the infamous Middle Passage.

This period was punctuated by historical figures, each playing their respective roles in the human tragedy. Men like John Newton, a slave ship captain who later repented and penned the hymn "Amazing Grace," embody the moral ambivalence and eventual awakening that characterized some participants. But not all shared such epiphanies; men like Edward Colston amassed fortunes from the trade, indifferent to the human suffering they left in their wake.

While the faces and names that propelled this dark industry were numerous, so were those who opposed it. Olaudah Equiano, a freed slave who purchased his own freedom, published an autobiography in 1789 that gave the world an inside look into the horrors of the slave trade. His first-hand accounts electrified the British public and fueled the abolitionist movement, becoming a catalyst for change.

00:00 The Middle Passage
1:45 Unveiling the Horrors and Scale of the Slave Trade
4:34 Infernal Arks
8:20 The Ship's Crew and Their Uneasy Dominion
11:22 The Abyss Below Deck
14:44 The Vain Scribbles of Law on the Slave Ships’ Dark Canvas
18:14 The Grim Gastronomy of Slave Ships and the Starving Souls Within
22:12 Chains and Whips
26:02 The Virulent Voyage Through Disease and Decay
29:44 The Layered Darkness of Gender and Age Aboard Slave Ships.
33:13 The Resilient Cadence of Culture Amidst Chains.
37:06 Rebellion on the Swells
40:41 How the Dark Tales of Slave Ships Fueled the Abolitionist Flame

[cynthiasmith]

To all who has endured a hardship, nothing you have experienced compares to those who had to endure the cruelty of slavery. Shame to those who have freedom, opportunities, and the availability not to take full advantage of life, education, and freedom of speech. Always try to be a positive in this life time given to you and not one who sit around complaining because you're too lazy to make a better life for yourself, feeling someone owe you something. You owe yourself the right to make a difference in this world

[robertjohnson]

These people were and are so evil and maybe nonhuman. They even did the poor little children bad and justify their evils.

[estellawest]

This wasn't a dark chapter in history but yet a demonic chapter in history.

[brettcurtis]

Sadly, the more I study and learn of history - I see that for many of our ancestors, life was hard, brutal, and inevitably short!!

[MrMickthemonster]

Whoever's writing these scripts really deserves a raise.. they are all Just bloody brilliant.. this one really put the hook in me 😢

[maryahern]

Readers, please correct me if my information is wrong.
To my understanding, the Europeans did not kidnap the slaves on the African continent-- they purchased them with rum or arms. The slaves had already been captured and held by the locals to be sold to the Europeans, who remained mostly on the ships. (Going ashore would expose them to diseases and other dangers.) The slaves were kept in holding facilities prior to purchase called "factories." Those who weren't bought were killed. But their fate would only get worse when they boarded the slave ships. The three stages of the slave trade (collecting the slaves, transporting them, then selling them) were brutal and unforgivable.

[sstarklite]

Thank you for giving the names of several of the slavers!
Listeners should also learn about the kidnapping of white women to put in the harems of the Ottoman Empire. In Ireland when they saw a ship coming the women would run away and hide!

[elpazz]

All school teachers should definitely show this to their students 10/10 !!!

[louisesumrell]

Human beings have great capacity for loving kindness and compassionate understanding.
They also have equal capacity for evil.
Choose wisely.
-weezi- 🙏💖🙏💜🙏😔

[ardythburger]

Sadly the Slaves that were kidnapped/bought/sold went thru so much suffering then was treated as being not worth anything. 😢😢😢😢

[melissapinol]

My mother was a white Southern bigot ( my dad was Filipino/Ashkenazi, who she insisted calling "Spanish"). Anyhow, her family had owned slaves, which she claimed were "well treated". My response was "really? Were you there?". That shut her up!

[michealmatthews]

the script and narration on this subject are the best i have ever seen or heared, well done and keep em coming.

[jakeb.]

Whoever wrote the script did a phenomenal job, not just portraying the kidnapped Africans as victims, but as SURVIVORS, ready and willing to fight for their rights, and to hold onto their culture against all odds.

[mosesrech]

The 45:40 minutes documentary of pain and Agony. What a sincere accounts of slavery of Africans by a European fellow 👏!. This must be put in Text Books of african history in the entire continent.

[wrightphotos]

If their is no shame in the disregard for mankind the same way the holocaust is taught and remembered why not slavery of the African? The inhumane treatment of the African was just as cruel if not worse why is their torture any different ?

[griswald]

This is sick…..mans inhumanity to man and animals never ends..

[KaTe-bber]

The title did not reflect the content! No reason for the dishonesty.

[deedeedixon]

Tell the truth, the whole truth
And nothing but the truth. 💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘

[jak]

Many ordinary people in Europe were totally unaware the slave trade was going on. In fact as is still today, there is huge class system in Europe, especially Great Britain. My ancestors during the Industrial Revolution in England were working from ages three and upward in coal mines, in chimneys, and dangerous cotton looms in factories. Not to mention the thousands who toiled to serve the upper classes. Today, Great Britain, which has never been free, is experiencing the horrors of policies made by the indelible few almighty self professed elitists. Many have no housing and survive winters without fuel or food. This is an example of many inhumanities to man, to forget would be to see it happening again... of which we see even today.

[shimronnetia]

the script and narration is exceptional ..and sad..love from Africa