The slave ship allows visitors to glimpse what slaves experienced on their long crossing over the Atlantic. Locked away below decks, lying in filth, starving and thirsty this living hell is almost impossible to imagine.
However, for an estimated 80,000 people every year this was the situation they faced. For each slave landed in the New World another died on the journey, a truly frightening number of deaths as a direct result of the European demand for the products of the plantation, and the acceptance of a society that could build an entire industry on such human misery.
On arrival the sick and weak (the so-called 'refuse' slaves) would be sold first followed by the others at either a fixed price or by auction. The indenture opposite our slave ship scene contains the names and ages of over 500 slaves. As can be seen, these range from 50 years down to 1 and 2 year olds, and the indenture is dated 1832. Later, Britain abolished slavery throughout its empire and those named here would be free. But free in a foreign land without roots and often facing the stark reality that life on the plantation was all they now knew.
Meanwhile, back in England the products of slave labour were enjoyed in the Punch Houses of London, one of which we now have an opportunity to visit.
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