Primary Sources: First Person Accounts of the Transatlantic Slave Trade
Introduction to this collection
These primary source excerpts provide a glimpse into the journey of African captives to the New World, including the harsh and dangerous conditions they experienced. It shows that enslaved people dealt with these horrific conditions in diverse ways, often finding ways to resist, strategize, and adapt to these intense circumstances.
Guiding question to think about as you read the documents: How did individuals experience and react to their situation in the transatlantic slave trade?
This primary source collection includes first-hand accounts of the Atlantic slaving system and can be difficult for students to read. Please note that these are important sources that explain the experiences of the enslaved, which include kidnapping, torture, murder, and sexual violence.
WHP Primary Source Punctuation Key
When you read through these primary source collections, you might notice some unusual punctuation like this: . . . and [ ] and ( ). Use the table below to help you understand what this punctuation means.
| Punctuation | What it means |
|---|---|
|
ELLIPSES words … words |
Something has been removed from the quoted sentences by an editor. |
|
BRACKETS [word] or word[s] |
Something has been added or changed by an editor. These edits are to clarify or help readers. |
|
PARENTHESES (words) |
The original author of the primary source wanted to clarify, add more detail, or make an additional comment in parentheses. |
Contents
Source 1 – Ottabah Cugoano’s autobiography, 1787 (1:10)
Source 2 – John Newton’s Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade, 1788 (4:55)
Source 3 – Olaudah Equiano’s autobiography, 1789 (8:35)
Source 4 – Sibell’s recollection of being captured into slavery, 1799 (12:45)
Source 5 – Mahommah G. Baquaqua’s autobiography, 1854 (17:50)
|
Timestamps are in the source title. To locate a specific source in the audio file:
|
This document is also available as an audio file. Click Listen to audio button to access a reading of the article.
Source 1 – Ottabah Cugoano’s autobiography, 1787 (1:10)
|
Title Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species |
Date and location 1787, London, England |
|
Source type Primary source – autobiography |
Author Ottabah Cugoano (c. 1757–c. 1791) |
|
Description Ottabah Cugoano was also known as John Stuart. He was captured as a slave as a child and taken to the Caribbean. From there, a merchant took him to London. He was later freed and joined abolitionist movements. In the excerpt below, Ottabah describes his experiences being kidnapped from his home and acts of resistance onboard the slavers’ ship. |
|
|
Key vocabulary concerted perish indulgent avail woe barbarous |
conveyed conceived consigned grievous approbation |
Guiding question
How did individuals experience and react to their situation in the transatlantic slave trade?
Excerpt
[W]hen we found ourselves at last taken away [upon the ship], death was more preferable than life, and a plan was concerted amongst us, that we might burn and blow up the ship, and to perish all together in the flames; but we were betrayed by one of our own countrywomen, who slept with some of the head men of the ship, for it was common for the dirty filthy sailors to take the African women and lie upon their bodies; but the men were chained and pent up in holes. It was the women and boys which were to burn the ship, with the approbation and groans of the rest; though that was prevented, the discovery was likewise a cruel bloody scene. . .
I was thus lost to my dear indulgent parents and relations, and they to me. All my help was cries and tears, and these could not avail; nor suffered long, till one succeeding woe, and dread, swelled up another. Brought from a state of innocence and freedom, and, in a barbarous and cruel manner, conveyed to a state of horror and slavery: This abandoned situation may be easier conceived than described. From the time that I was [kidnapped] and conducted to a factory, and from thence in the brutish, base, but fashionable way of traffic, consigned to Grenada, the grievous thoughts which I then felt, still pant in my heart; though my fears and tears have long since subsided. And yet it is still grievous to think that thousands more have suffered in similar and greater distress, under the hands of barbarous robbers, and merciless taskmasters; and that many even now are suffering in all the extreme bitterness of grief and woe, that no language can describe the cries of some, and the sight of their misery, may be seen and heard afar; but the deep sounding groans of thousands, and the great sadness of their misery and woe, under the heavy load of oppressions and calamities inflicted upon them, are such as can only be distinctly known to the ears of Jehovah Sabaoth.
Citation
Cugoano, Ottobah. Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species: Humbly Submitted to the Inhabitants of Great-Britain. London, 1787. (10–11)
Source 2 – John Newton’s Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade, 1788 (4:55)
|
Title “Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade” |
Date and location 1788, London, England |
|
Source type Primary source – essay |
Author John Newton (1725–1807) |
|
Description John Newton was a captain of slave ships in the 1800s. Later in life, he became an English church minister and composer. At that time, he became a supporter of the abolitionist movement. In this excerpt, Newton shows how slavers devalued human life and treated people as something you could calculate and manage. He writes about the horrific conditions in which enslaved people were transported and the suffering and death that resulted. |
|
|
Key vocabulary desirable vessel lodging noxious |
allotted mortality fluxes noisome |
Guiding question
How did individuals experience and react to their situation in the transatlantic slave trade?
Excerpt
With our ships, the great object is to be full. When the ship is there, it is thought desirable she should take as many as possible. The cargo of a vessel of a hundred tons, or little more, is calculated to purchase from two hundred and twenty to two hundred and fifty slaves. Their lodging-rooms below the deck, which are three (for the men, the boys, and the women), besides a place for the sick, are sometimes more than five feet high, and sometimes less; and this height is divided towards the middle, for the slaves lie in two rows, one above the other, like books upon a shelf. I have known them so close, that the shelf would not, easily, contain one more. And I have known a white man sent down, among the men, to lay them in these rows to the greatest advantage, so that as little space as possible might be lost. . .
Epidemical [widespread] fevers and fluxes, which fill the ship with noisome and noxious effluvia [odors], often break out, and infect the [sailors] likewise, and thus the oppressors, and the oppressed, fall by the same stroke.
I believe, nearly one-half of the slaves on board, have, sometimes, died; and that the loss of a third part, in these circumstances, is not unusual. The ship, in which I was mate, left the coast with two hundred and eighteen slaves on board; and though we were not much affected by epidemical disorders, I find by my journal of that voyage (now before me), that we buried sixty-two on our passage to South Carolina, exclusive of those which died before we left the coast, of which I have no account.
I believe, upon an average between the more healthy, and the more sickly voyages, and including all contingencies [possibilities], one fourth of the whole purchase may be allotted to the article of mortality [one fourth may die]: that is, if the English ships purchase sixty thousand slaves annually, upon the whole extent of the coast, the annual loss of lives cannot be much less than fifteen thousand.
Citation
Newton, John. The Posthumous Works of the Late Rev. John Newton, Rector of the United Parishes of St. Mary Woolnoth, and St. Mary Woolchurch, Haw, London. Published by the Direction of His Executors (Vol. II). Philadelphia: W. W. Woodward, 1811. (247–9).
Source 3 – Olaudah Equiano’s autobiography, 1789 (8:35)
|
Title The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African |
Date and location 1789, London, England |
|
Source type Primary source – autobiography |
Author Olaudah Equiano (1745–1797) |
|
Description Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa as he was known for most of his life, was born in current day Nigeria and was kidnapped and enslaved. In 1766, he was able to purchase his freedom and became an abolitionist. In this excerpt, he tells of his experience being shipped across the Atlantic Ocean on a slave ship. |
|
|
Key vocabulary abandoned despair undergo suffered stench |
eatables instances desperate windlass nettings |
Guiding question
How did individuals experience and react to their situation in the transatlantic slave trade?
Excerpt
Soon after this, the blacks who brought me on board went off, and left me abandoned to despair. I now saw myself deprived [robbed] of all chance of returning to my native country, or even the least glimpse of hope of gaining the shore, which I now considered as friendly, and even wished for my former slavery, in preference to my present situation, which was filled with horrors of every kind still heightened by my ignorance of what I was to undergo. I was not long suffered to indulge my grief, I was soon put down under the decks, and there I received such a salutation [greeting] in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life; so that with the loathsomeness [awfulness] of the stench, and crying together, I became so sick and low that I was not able to eat, nor had I the least desire to taste any thing. I now wished for the last friend, Death, to relieve me; but soon, to my grief, two of the white men offered me eatables; and on my refusing to eat, one of them held me fast by the hands, and laid me across, I think, the windlass, and tied my feet, while the other flogged [beat] me severely. I had never experienced any thing of this kind before; and although not being used to the water, I naturally feared that element the first time I saw it; yet, nevertheless, could I have got over the nettings, I would have jumped over the side; but I could not; and, besides, the crew used to watch us very closely who were not chained down to the decks, lest we should leap into the water; and I have seen some of these poor African prisoners most severely cut for attempting to do so, and hourly whipped for not eating. This indeed was often the case with myself. In a little time after, amongst the poor chained men, I found some of my own nation, which in a small degree gave ease to my mind. I inquired [asked] of them what was to be done with us? They give me to understand we were to be carried to these white people’s country to work for them. I then was a little revived [renewed], and thought, if it were no worse than working, my situation was not so desperate: but still I feared I should be put to death, the white people looked and acted, as I thought, in so savage a manner; for I had never seen among any people such instances of brutal cruelty; and this not only shown towards us blacks, but also to some of the whites themselves.
Citation
Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African. London, 1794. (47–9)
Source 4 – Sibell’s recollection of being captured into slavery, 1799 (12:45)
|
Title Sibell’s Narrative (Collected by John Ford, Barbados, 1799) |
Date and location 1799, Barbados |
|
Source type Primary source – oral history |
Author Sibell (unknown–unknown) Transcribed by John Ford (unknown–unknown) |
|
Description Sibell was an elderly enslaved woman in Barbados. There is very little known about her life other than what is included in the excerpt below. John Ford collected her narrative and transcribed her story of being captured. There is very little known about the life of John Ford as well. The text is in a dialect of English called Creole which was used by some enslaved people at that time. |
|
|
Key vocabulary Budders – brothers de – the nebber – never dat – that dem – them tree – three muchee – much/a lot bin – been veddy – very udder – other |
bud – but dere – there grandee – big no frighten – don’t be scared pon – upon wid – with ebber – every workee – work no savvy – don’t know |
Guiding question
How did individuals experience and react to their situation in the transatlantic slave trade?
Excerpt
Massah! My Daddy was a great man in my country and called Makerundy [this is likely a name or a title], he have great many slaves, and hire many man—And one of my Budders [Brothers] was a great man in de [the] fight in my country—my Daddy nebber [never] want—he have ground two, tree [three] miles long and hire as many man dat [that] he put de [the] vittles [food] in large tubs for dem [them]—When he cut honey, he fill tree, four barrel he have so muchee [much]. When we want good drink in my Country we go and cut de Tree and de juice will run, and keep some time will make good strong drink.
I bin veddy [been very] fond of my sister—and she went out of de house one day and left me alone, and my Budder in Law come in, and take me up and say he going to carry me to see his udder [other] wife. He take and carry, carry, carry, carry, carry me all night and day, all night and day ’way from my Country—in de way me meet a Man and de Man know my Daddy and all my Family—Ah! Budder (me beg pardon for calling you Budder Massah) you see me here now bud dere [there] has bin grandee [big] fight in my country for me, for he will tell my Family—As my budder in law carry me ’long, me hear great noise, and me wonder, but he tell me no frighten—and he carry me to a long House full of new [black people] talking and making sing—But veddy few of dem bin of my Country and my Budder in Law sell me to de Back-erah people. Me nebber see de White people before, me nebber see de great ships pon [upon] de water before, me nebber hear de waves before which me frighten so much-ee dat me thought me would die. My Budder in Law took up de Gun and de Powder which he sell me for and wanted to get ’way from me, but me hold he and cry—and he stop wid [with] me till me hold Tongue and den he run away from me—De sailors keep me in dere long time and bring down two, tree ebber [every] day ’till de long house bin full—Dere bin many Black people dere verry bad man, dey talk all kind of Country and tell we all dat we going to a good Massah yonder yonder, where we would workee [work], workee picka-nee-nee, and messy messy grandee and no fum-fum.
Me no know nobody in de House, but ven me go in de ship me find my country woman Mimbo, my country man Dublin, my Country woman Sally, and some more, but dey sell dem all about and me no savvy [don’t know] where now—Here she burst into tears and could say no more.
-
[the following are original notes by John Ford] “Back-e-rah people—white people; pick-nee-nee—little; messy messy – eat eat; no fum-fum—no whipping, so named by the English.”
Citation
Source: Bodleian MS. Eng. Misc. b.4, fols. 50, 1. Printed in full in Handler, J.S. “Life Histories of Enslaved Africans in Barbados.” Slavery and Abolition 19 (1998).
Source 5 – Mahommah G. Baquaqua’s autobiography, 1854 (17:50)
|
Title Biography of Mahommah G. Baquaqua, a Native of Zoogoo, in the Interior of Africa |
Date and location 1854, Detroit, USA |
|
Source type Primary source – autobiography |
Author Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua (c. 1824–unknown) |
|
Description Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua was a slave who was taken from Africa to Brazil. He later went to New York and escaped to freedom. As a free man, he was an abolitionist. In the excerpt below, Baquaqua describes his journey across the Atlantic Ocean on a slave ship. |
|
|
Key vocabulary loathsomeness confined |
effaced refractory |
Guiding question
How did individuals experience and react to their situation in the transatlantic slave trade?
Excerpt
Oh! the loathsomeness and filth of that horrible [ship] will never be effaced from my memory; nay, as long as memory holds her seat in this distracted brain, will I remember that. My heart even at this day, sickens at the thought of it. . .
The only food we had during the voyage was corn soaked and boiled. I cannot tell how long we were thus confined, but it seemed a very long while. We suffered very much for want of water, but was denied all we needed. A pint a day was all that was allowed, and no more; and a great many slaves died upon the passage. There was one poor fellow became so very desperate for want of water, that he attempted to snatch a knife from the white man who brought in the water, when he was taken up on deck and I never knew what became of him. I supposed he was thrown overboard.
When any one of us became refractory, his flesh was cut with a knife, and pepper or vinegar was rubbed in to make him peaceable. . .
We arrived at Pernambuco, South America, early in the morning, and the vessel played about during the day, without coming to anchor. All that day we neither ate or drank anything, and we were given to understand that we were to remain perfectly silent, and not make any out-cry, otherwise our lives were in danger. But when “night threw her sable mantle on the earth and sea,” the anchor dropped, and we were permitted to go on deck to be viewed and handled by our future masters, who had come aboard from the city. We landed a few miles from the city, at a farmer’s house, which was used as a kind of slave market. The farmer had a great many slaves, and I had not been there very long before I saw him use the lash pretty freely on a boy, which made a deep impression on my mind, as of course I imagined that would be my [fate before] long, and oh! too soon, alas! were my fears realized.
Citation
Baquaqua, Mahommah G. Biography of Mahommah G. Baquaqua, a Native of Zoogoo, in the Interior of Africa. Detroit, 1854. (43–4).
Eman M. Elshaikh
Eman M. Elshaikh is a writer, researcher, and teacher who has taught K-12 and undergraduates in the United States and in the Middle East and written for many different audiences. She teaches writing at the University of Chicago, where she also completed her master’s in social sciences and is currently pursuing her PhD. She was previously a World History Fellow at Khan Academy, where she worked closely with the College Board to develop curriculum for AP World History.
Image credits
This work is licensed under CC BY 4.0 except for the following:
Cover: The Interesting Narrative Of The Life Of Olaudah Equiano. Title page and frontispiece from the autobiography of Olaudah Equiano (also known as Gustavus Vassa, circa 1745-1797). Enslaved as a child in the Eboe (Igbo) region of the Kingdom of Benin in Africa, Equiano was taken to the Caribbean and sold to a Royal Navy officer. He was sold twice more but purchased his freedom in 1766. As a freedman in London, Equiano supported the British abolitionist movement and was a member of the Sons of Africa, an abolitionist group composed of Africans living in Britain. Originally published in 1789, his book went through nine editions in his lifetime and helped gain passage of the British Slave Trade Act 1807, which abolished the slave trade. In 1792 Equiano married Susannah Cullen, an English woman, and they had two daughters. The book has a brown leather cover with gold colored lettering. A paper dust jacket with “Gustavus Vassa” on the front surrounds the leather cover. There are inscriptions on the front pastedown endpaper and the front endpaper. The book has 294 pages. Artist Unknown. © Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images.