Five Steps from Africa to Slavery: Free Labor Before the Civil War

“Will I sell the heart of another man? Indeed, if the profit is sufficient.” It is sickening to think that any person could answer as such, and yet these heinous words rested on the tongues of many Americans and Africans alike during the 18th century. Selfishness often promises monetary rewards, so when Europeans offered payment to African traders for their criminals and prisoners the traders, of course, accepted. The British colonies, just beginning to spread out and blossom into ripe plantations, were in dire need of large amounts of cheap labor. Slavery, an institution that had been used by the Spanish and French for decades prior, seemed like an easy solution. Take a human, break him, and make him do your work for free until he dies or can be sold for a good price: The British colonies could see nothing but profit flowing from the idea of free labor; thus millions of men and women faced the devastation of the journey from Africa. 

The trek began, not through a horrifying, strange new world; but through Africa, their home. Slowly, however, the familiar scenery faded into the shadows of a land left behind, and distance made their homeland seem surreal. It was in their minds that the breakdown of their hearts began. They walked in chains for hundreds of miles, while foreign diseases lurked invisibly in the air around them and hurried traders slaughtered the slow-paced to meet deadlines. Be it by death or life in the unknown, each breaking heart knew he would never return home. 

For weeks the land unfurled and unfurled its surreal terror, showing them an Africa they had never fathomed. At last, though, the ocean blocked the trail, and their wandering ended. Here at the coast they found home in a dank prison cell. After being branded and graded by European traders, the slaves were able to seek out their own country men. In each other they found comfort in shared language and memories of the life they used to know. They found a chance to heal their hearts, if only a little bit.