Historic Results of the Institution of Slavery
Historic Results of the Institution of Slavery
For the indentured servants and slaves their time in America was a grueling struggle. They had to cope with the problems that presented itself through the voyage to America, and a life of misery. Their stories though are very similar in that they didn’t have enough food and clothing and were extremely unhappy with their lifestyles.
The trip to America was the biggest similarity shared by the indentured servants and slaves. From the writings expressed in “America Through The Eyes of Its People” the authors explain the true struggle of the voyage. On the voyages the people lived through hunger, lack of fresh air and water, withdrawal of efficient space for living, sicknesses, an awful stench, and even deaths of loved ones. Gottlieb Mittelberger illustrates these conditions in his writings of the passage. “But during the voyage there is on board these ships terrible misery, stench, fumes, horror, vomiting, many kinds of sea-sickness, fever, dysentery, headache, heat, constipation, boils, scurvy, cancer, mouth rot, and the like, all of which come from old and sharply salted food and meat, also from very bad and foul water, so that many die miserably. (Mittelberger p. 31)”
The ultimate of these struggles was the lack of food and water. On these ships water was scarce and rations were even less of a commodity. When food and water was served to the people it was so unclean that many did not accept them. The food was often rotten and old, while the water was black and full of worms. This lack of proper nutrition led to many deaths.
The living quarters on these ships were extremely inhumane. Over six hundred servants and slaves were packed into the same living quarters through the duration of the trip. For many indentured servants they had to live in spaces two feet in width and six in length. As a result of feces, vomiting, and the heat these quarters had such a strong stench that fresh air was sometimes lacking. For the slaves though these living conditions were worse in that they were all chained together. Equiano expresses the struggle of this, “I saw a multitude of black people of every description chained together, every one of their countenances expressing dejection and sorrow. (Equiano pg. 35)”
The greatest difference between the slaves and indentured servants on these passages was...