For over 400 years, more than 22 million men, women and children were the victims of the tragic transatlantic slave trade, one of the darkest chapters in human history. In commemoration of the memory of the victims, the General Assembly, in its resolution 62/122 of 17 December 2007, declared 25 March the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, to be observed annually.
The resolution also called for the establishment of an outreach program to mobilize educational institutions, civil society and other organizations to inculcate in future generations the "causes, consequences and lessons of the transatlantic slave trade, and to communicate the dangers of racism and prejudice. This a lesson we all have to teach to each other and to our children.
This day offers the opportunity to honor and remember those who suffered and died at the hands of the brutal slavery system. This day aims at raising awareness about the dangers of racism and prejudice today.
Even though most countries have officially abolished slavery, people of African descent who may or may not be descended from slaves continue to suffer the racial discrimination which characterized this frightful era.
**Slaves were, also, people, so in this article, we will try to eliminate some dehumanizing terms that are used in the bibliography.***
“Telling the truth about history is an essential component of international reconciliation and the creation of societies based on justice, equality and solidarity”, Navi Pillay, UN Human Rights Chief
The Statistics
Embarked and Disembarked Transatlantic Slave Trade Victims:
Portugal/Brazil → 10,948,080
Great Britain → 5,992,764
France → 1,381,404
Spain/Uruguay → 1,946,447
Netherlands → 1,029,576
USA → 557,978
Denmark/Baltic → 202,774
12,2% of them died in voyage
64,5% were males
35,5 were females
21,5% were children
The Ships and the Rebellions
Slave ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean were notorious for their overcrowded, unsanitary conditions. A drawing from about 1790 of the slave ship Brooks shows how more than 420 adults and children could be crammed aboard.
Occasionally, the African captives successfully revolted and took over the ships. The most famous such incident occurred in 1839 when an enslaved African named Joseph Cinqué led a mutiny on the Spanish slave ship Amistad, killing the captain and two members of the crew. The ship was intercepted off New York state. An 1841 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court freed the Amistad rebels.
Reproduction of Slaves
In general, US and Brazilian slaves managed to increase their population a lot more than in other plantation areas. This happened due to several factors, such as labor duties. In some areas, planters understood the significance of the slaves’ reproduction. There was nothing the planter was more interested in than the increase of his slaves through the birth and rearing of children, and within the bounds of medical knowledge of the period, he took the time and effort to promote conditions that were conducive to the rearing of large families.
When a slave would announce her pregnancy she was assigned light duty. She would give birth in the plantation’s hospital with the help of black midwives that would serve both black and white mothers.
Unfortunately, this was not the case in most of the other areas, so the mortality rates of mothers and infants were very high. This leads to today’s afro population rates.
Conclusion
It was very unfortunate that I did not find enough data on slaves’ health and maternity care. if anyone can provide more information, I would like to ask them to contact us.
Today is a day of remembrance and honor of those victims. Today is a day that reminds us of our dark past so that we will build a brighter future. Today is a day of realizing that slaves’ descendants do not worth racial discrimination, but respect and acceptance. Today humanity wins.
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Reference list
Slavevoyages.org
Slave Trade, United Nations, un.org
In remembrance of 30 million victims of slavery, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN Human Rights)
Transatlantic Slave Trade Key Facts, Britannica
Work, Pregnancy and Infant Mortality among Southern Slaves, John Cambell, Journal of Interdisciplinary History (1984)
Birth and mortality rates among slave infants on southern plantations, William Dosite Postell, Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics (1952)