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Beginning in the fifteenth century, the territory of the present-day United States of America was actually owned by Europe. The main colonizing countries were Portugal, France, Spain, and the British Empire. And it would be more than a century before the situation fundamentally changed and the mainland gained its independence.
In the seventeenth century the main activity in the south of North America was agriculture, which required many hardy workers. Even then the slavery of white men, or, as they were called at the time, contracted men, which included mostly the English and Irish poor, the ruined peasants and artisans, was actively practiced. However, this was not enough.
In the middle of the century, Europeans were just beginning to venture into Africa and use their technical superiority to captivate people for further sale. A special agency was set up to collect future slaves and trade with them. Over time, the organization expanded across the continent. Among its “partners” were local chiefs who sold either their own tribesmen or members of neighboring, “hostile” groups.
The captured men were tied up in pairs and led through the forests to the coast. There, buyers were already waiting for them. To check the condition of the slaves, the captains made them move their fingers, arms, legs, and entire bodies to make sure no one had any fractures. If teeth were missing, a lower price was given for the slave. Each African was worth about 100 gallons of rum, 100 pounds of gunpowder, or $18 to $20. Women under 25, pregnant or not, were worth the full price, and after 25 they lost a quarter of the value.
The slaves were sent in boats to the ship in groups. On board they were divided into groups: the men were loaded into one compartment, the women into another. The children were left on deck. Slaves were transported on special ships, whose holds could hold more “live goods”. The small sailing ships of that time carried 200, 300 or even 500 slaves during one voyage. And a ship with a displacement of 120 tons carried at least 600 people. As the slave traders themselves said, “a Negro should not take up more room in the hold than in a coffin.
