Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

The trans-Atlantic slave trade was undoubtedly one of the most severe abominations committed against humanity in the history of mankind.  To sell, own, and slave a person as if they were an animal or a piece of property is unfathomable in modern times.  Several interesting facets exist in regards to the co-existence of the Spaniards, slaves, and indigenous peoples in Central America during the 1500s such as the relationship between the indigenous peoples and the slaves, the labor assignments for slaves, and the general treatment of slaves during the Middle Passage and as laborers in Brazil.  However, in relevance to the topic of this class, I will focus on the abusive treatment of the slaves and further argue that female slaves were objectified more than the males.

The initial capture of the slaves in Africa was almost always violent, thus paving the road to a long process of brutality for each enslaved individual.  Slaves were then packed onto ships like sardines in a can and left to bathe in their own excrement and endure the disease-ridden environment.  Any captive infected with a disease was cast overboard.  They were beaten and force-fed, and once the journey was over, they were auctioned off and provided with a shiny new Christian name.  However, documents have shown that many of the female captives were unnamed significantly more often than the males.

Once the slaves were established as laborers in Brazil, a new slew of mistreatment began.  The male slaves often were highly trained in the certain trades but were never allowed to progress to the level of joining a guild, despite how talented the might have been.  The slaves were often subjected to brutality for disobeying their masters and sometimes were executed for the same misdemeanors.  Female slaves were subjected to the same conditions as the males but they also had to endure being used as sex slaves by their masters, and oftentimes, this would lead to illegitimate pregnancies.  The slaves were raped of their culture and identity; many slaves from different regions of Africa had to work together and they had to adjust to a common language that they could all use to communicate.  They were stripped of their traditional spiritual values while the religious views of the Spaniards were forced upon them.  The physical and emotional abuse was endless.  Additionally, women were further subjected to emotional abuse by serving as wet-nurses.  To breastfeed a child and form a bond only to have the child ripped away would be incredibly emotionally tortuous.

As a group, their identities were stolen from them, as well as their dignity, humanity, and freedom.  As separate sexes, each category of slaves had different pressures to endure, but in my opinion, the female slaves had much more emotional abuse to endure.