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Slave Journey to the Coast

60 second histories

This video covers:  A slave recounts how he was shackled and had to walk for two weeks till they reached a stone fort on the coast

The slavers tied my hands together suspended from a piece of forked branch that was against my throat, this was tied to another forked piece around the back of my neck to make a kind of collar so that my head and neck were secured by the wood. This was then tied to the wood of the person in front and behind me which made a long line of men and women all fastened together by the neck. The rope that hung down from the wood around our necks secured our hands and went down between our legs and up to the wooden collar of the person behind. It took weeks to walk like this to the sea, we stopped only to eat and sleep; sometimes there wasn’t enough food so we just had half rations. We reached the coast and were put into a stone fort where we were washed clean and fed. It was here I saw my first white man; he examined us as if we were animals, I didn’t realise at the time but he was looking to buy us.
Eras: 
British Empire
Topics: 
Trade
Slavery
Character: 
African slave
Key words: 
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