The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
I would like to share my journey through Elmina and Cape coast castles in Ghana, formerly known as Gold coast due to its abundance of gold. It was very emotional, educative and revealing...Never regretted being there, I would advise your next vacation stop to be there!
Between 1525 and 1860, approximately 12.5 million enslaved Africans were transported from Western and Central Africa to the Americas (North and South America), Europe and West Indies. About 10 - 15% perished on the sea during the "Middle Passage" and never got to their final destination. Portuguese were the first to engage in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade completing their first slave trade voyage to Brazil in 1526. European countries involved in slavery include: Spain, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands with Portugal, Britain and France as the major slave trading nations.
The triangular Slave Trade route
The slave trade used the triangular trade route and its "Middle Passage" of exporting enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americans and Caribbean Islands. The first side of the triangle exported goods such as ammunitions, guns and other factory made goods from Europe to Africa while the final leg returned the products of slave labour plantation such as cotton, sugar, tobacco, molasses and rum from the Americans to Europe.
Ghana castles
There are 3 castles and more than 14 forts in Ghana:
1. Elmina castle also known as St. George's castle built in 1471 by the Portuguese catholics is the oldest castle in West Africa (536 years old and it is still standing).
2. Christianbourg castle located in Osu, Accra was built by Danish presbyterians in 1667 (357 years).
3. Cape Coast castle built by English anglicans in 1665 (353 years) is the smallest castle both in size and age.
Journey through Elmina and Cape Coast castles, Ghana
The first Portuguese arrived Gold Coast in 1471 led by their captain Don Diego for gold trade. Around 1482, the Portugese asked for a plot of land from Chief Nana Kwaamina Kwansa who was quite hesitant in giving out the land citing that cultural differences might pose problems in the future. However, with further persuasions and convictions from the Portuguese, the chief released the land. It was the first time in the history of the world that a West African chief legally transferred a title of land to an European and this gave birth subsequently to Elmina castle hence Africans in diaspora.
According to the Portuguese the 2 reasons for constructing the castle were: for trade and to give accommodation to their Catholics missionaries spreading the gospel. Before 1500s all the rooms on the underground floor were used as warehouses and store rooms as discussed. However, from 1500s with the inception of obnoxious trans-atlantic slave trade, the gold trade shifted to human trade. When this started, the store rooms were converted to dungeons where African men, women and children were held captives. The life of a captive never got any better, every stage was more severe than the previous full of misery and despair.
Elmina Castle
This is one of the oldest European buildings outside Europe and the historic town of Elmina is believed to be the location of first contact point between Europeans and Sub-saharan Africans. All the materials used in the construction of this castle were imported except for the water, sand and stones. However, some stones used in balancing the ships during sails were incorporated in the building. The floor has both red and yellow stones; red stones were Portuguese construction while yellow stones were Dutch construction. Elmina castle exchanged hands multiple times from the Portuguese to the Dutch and finally to British.
In 1637, the locals were fed up with the Portuguese and assisted the Danes to take over the castle. But unfortunately, the Dutch were not the angels they were looking for rather they came took in more slaves, extended the building and set up a marketing place where the slaves could be auctioned. About 30,000 slaves passed through Elmina's door of "NO RETURN" annually till 1814 when the Dutch abolished slave trade which was 7 years after British did that. After signing of Anglo-Dutch treaty of 1824, in 1872 Dutch and English exchanged possessions. English took over the castle and used it as administrative headquarters. During the second world war, it was used as a training ground for Royal West African Frontiers forces. And also served as police training school after Ghana got its independence in 1957.
In 1637, the locals were fed up with the Portuguese and assisted the Danes to take over the castle. But unfortunately, the Dutch were not the angels they were looking for rather they came took in more slaves, extended the building and set up a marketing place where the slaves could be auctioned. About 30,000 slaves passed through Elmina's door of "NO RETURN" annually till 1814 when the Dutch abolished slave trade which was 7 years after British did that. After signing of Anglo-Dutch treaty of 1824, in 1872 Dutch and English exchanged possessions. English took over the castle and used it as administrative headquarters. During the second world war, it was used as a training ground for Royal West African Frontiers forces. And also served as police training school after Ghana got its independence in 1957.
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| Elmina castle |
Cape Coast Castle
One of the famous castles in Ghana's dark history began as a lodge constructed by the Portuguese in 1555. This was taken over by the Swedes in 1653 and built into a fort in 1654. It played a significant role in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade; about 25% of African slaves transported into slavery came to Cape Coast castle. It was a converging point for slaves from West Africa including Benin, Nigeria and Togo. Due to stiff European competition, the fort was occupied by different slave traders at different times.
In 1658, when the Danes seized power from the Swedish, it was reconstructed in stone. The fort passed through the hands of the Dutch and even a local Fetu chief at some point to the British when they conquered in 1664. By 1700s, the British transformed it into this very castle we are seeing today and the transformation took over 60 years to be completed using the locals. This also served as the headquarters of British colonial governor.
In 1658, when the Danes seized power from the Swedish, it was reconstructed in stone. The fort passed through the hands of the Dutch and even a local Fetu chief at some point to the British when they conquered in 1664. By 1700s, the British transformed it into this very castle we are seeing today and the transformation took over 60 years to be completed using the locals. This also served as the headquarters of British colonial governor.
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| Cape Coast castle |
Inside the Castles
A whole family could be captured but only separated on their arrival to the castle. Most people never saw each other again. Some couples could see each other but never got to talk rather kept sobbing out of despair and suffering. The official age for slavery was 13 years, however children below this age were also captured and sold. Children above the age of 10 were sold individually otherwise sold together with an adult. The ones older than 50 years of age had their hairs shaved off and smeared with oil for them to look much younger before being sold into slavery. In the castle strong men and women were known as commercial captives while the weak ones were called domestic captives.
Journey through the Dungeons
There were male and female slave dungeons. These held 1000 male and 600 female captives in Elmina castle but 600 males and 150 - 200 female captives in Cape Coast castle. Children and adult stayed together. In the dungeon, pregnant women were not allowed therefore the identified ones were flung into the ocean. However, due to sexual abuse, some women became pregnant inside the dungeon, some delivered in chains and others were taken to town to deliver. After delivery, the woman either remained in the town with her baby which meant freedom from slavery or went back immediately to the dungeon depending on the interest of the officer responsible for her pregnancy.
Dungeons were dark rooms with only 3 holes to let in light. There was also a spy hole through which the soldiers monitored the captives. When weather became too hot, seawater was poured on them to cool down the temperature of the rooms. Generally, the chained captives stayed 3 months in the poorly ventilated dungeons with no place to lie down and very little light; full of misery, agony, suffering, abuse, intimidation and torture as the case may be. Without water or sanitation, the floor of of the dungeon was littered with human faeces, urine, vomit and menstrual blood. They were locked up under these dreadful conditions and many captives fell seriously ill. Just imagine a child below 10 years of age inhaling the stench of adult excreta. Little food were thrown to them and those who could not scramble for food were killed by hunger while some decided to commit suicide by embarking on voluntary hunger strike. Some became partially blind, some captives also died as a result of infections including malaria and diarrhoea. Those who died in the dungeon exceeded those who survived and their bodies were thrown into the ocean for sharks to feed on. Branding and identification of slaves by several slave traders was done by stamping a red hot branded iron on the men's chests or hands and the women on their backs.
On the arrival of slave ships at end of 3 months, the survived captives including women and children with chains around their necks and in shackles; sometimes chained in groups of 5, 10 or 15 were forced to walk 70 metres long underground tunnel through the "door of no return" to the boats and then onboard the big slaving ship. There were check points where the soldiers stood and confirmed the numbers of the slaves being transported. In the ships, they were made to crouch and cramped in space where cargoes are usually kept and the sick people were thrown overboard into the ocean to protect the rest of the crew from getting infected. But surprisingly, these slave ships came with wonderful names such as "God is able", "Jesus", "Liberty", "Lord", "Santa Maria" and host of other beautiful names.
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| Male Slave dungeon |
Dungeons were dark rooms with only 3 holes to let in light. There was also a spy hole through which the soldiers monitored the captives. When weather became too hot, seawater was poured on them to cool down the temperature of the rooms. Generally, the chained captives stayed 3 months in the poorly ventilated dungeons with no place to lie down and very little light; full of misery, agony, suffering, abuse, intimidation and torture as the case may be. Without water or sanitation, the floor of of the dungeon was littered with human faeces, urine, vomit and menstrual blood. They were locked up under these dreadful conditions and many captives fell seriously ill. Just imagine a child below 10 years of age inhaling the stench of adult excreta. Little food were thrown to them and those who could not scramble for food were killed by hunger while some decided to commit suicide by embarking on voluntary hunger strike. Some became partially blind, some captives also died as a result of infections including malaria and diarrhoea. Those who died in the dungeon exceeded those who survived and their bodies were thrown into the ocean for sharks to feed on. Branding and identification of slaves by several slave traders was done by stamping a red hot branded iron on the men's chests or hands and the women on their backs.
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| 3 holes to let in light into the dungeon |
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| Slaves in chains |
Right on top of dungeons was a "church on the dungeon". A chapel in the castle for the governor, officers, traders and their families who went about their normal day-to-day life free from the intolerable human suffering they were consciously inflicting on the captives. At the inception, white pastors were presiding over the churches but with successful conversion of some Africans to christianity, black pastors became available. At Cape Coast castle, the church was Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) which was an Anglican Church pastored by a Ghanaian reverend known as Phillip Kweku whose father was a slave trader. At Elmina castle was St. George's Catholic Church while at Christianbourg was Presbyterian church.
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| Portuguese church |
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| St. George's Catholic Church @ Elmina castle |
Cell
Condemned cell was a pitchy darkroom with no opening and this was for the captives who revolted, fought for their freedom and made an attempt to escape; those were seen to be rebellious. They were left with no food, no light and no water till their death. The female punishment cell held 8 women at a time. Some women who said "NO" to sexual abuse or resisted rape from the officers were beaten and chained to canon balls in the courtyard.
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| Cells |
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| Cell |
"Door of NO RETURN"
This is the portal through which the slaves exited and lowered into boats; then loaded like cargo onto the big slaving ships docked further out at sea. Never to set foot again in their homeland and a final goodbye to the freedom they once knew and experienced. It was at this point the captives saw light for the first time after spending 3 months in the dungeons. This is where they lost contact with their ancestors and most of them found dignity in commiting suicide voluntarily instead of being transported to the New World (the Americas and the Caribbean). Those who embarked on hunger strike were too weak to travel therefore taken to small room next to the "door of NO RETURN" to die. The strong captives in chains and shackles were cramped in a slave ship and taken to the Americans and the Caribbean to work in the plantations under brutality and traumatic conditions of their slave masters. The door was blocked in 1833 after the abolition of slavery as a symbol of freedom.
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| Door of NO RETURN |
At Cape Coast castle, on the back of this door was written "Door of RETURN". This was created on the Emancipation day celebrated in Ghana on 1st August, 1998 to show the liberation of the slaves. The celebration involved exhumation of the two dead bodies of slaves; Samuel Carson from USA and madam Crystal from Jamaica with their bones brought in coffins back to Ghana to mark freedom thus "Door of RETURN".
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| Door of RETURN @ Cape Coast castle |
This is an extravagant apartment devoid of the stench and misery of the dungeons for the white governors. This included a living room with 9 windows and well ventilated bedroom with 5 windows with beautiful parquet floors and scenic views of the blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean. There was also a balcony with a courtyard from where he selected any woman of his choice. He would order the soldiers to wash the woman in the centre of the courtyard with other captives looking on. After the humiliation, she would get dressed and given little food. Then she would pass through the trap door to the governor's bedroom. Finally, the soldiers who escorted her back sometimes also raped her. On the contrary, the woman who refused the advances from the governor was fettered with 8 canon balls around her ankles and made to stand under the sun and in the rain without food until pardon was granted. Officers' quarters were also spacious and airy.
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| Governor's bedroom |
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| Governor's balcony |
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| Canon ball for punishing women who resisted sexual abuse |
The role of Africans in Slave trade
In the olden days, the convicted criminals could be punished by enslavement. African factors were bringing captives from different locations around West Africa and African traditional chiefs were busy selling them together with their prisoners of war to European buyers in exchange for guns and ammunitions. However, there were innocent ones captured but most of other slaves were obtained from kidnapping or through raids together with Europeans at gun point.
As a sign of apology the National House of Chiefs in Ghana came together and proclaimed that never will this kind of inhumane act happen again by unveiling a foundation stone at Cape Coast castle.
Even in the 21st century, the castles continue to pay respect to the millions of people who languished in the hands of slavers. During every biannual Pan African Festival (PANAFEST) 3 wreaths are laid by the Ghana government, the Chiefs and the Africans in diaspora at the slave castle dungeons. The visit to the castle is extremely popular among African-American tourists who want to find out more about their heritage.
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| Wreaths @ the slave castle dungeons |
Drafted by Chikaodili Deng (MPH)
SLAVERY HAS ENDED BUT MODERN DAY SLAVERY IS STILL ON....
.....HUMAN TRAFFICKING....CHILD LABOUR....SEX SLAVERY.....LET'S UNITE AGAINST MODERN DAY SLAVERY
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