Working history project diary

On The Ship

I was boarded onto the ship and was thrown below deck into a dark room. I was naked, bleeding and felt sick already. There were women, children, men they didn’t care who as long as they were able to make money. There were lots of other people and not a lot of space to move around in. there were lots of wooden blocks and I suppose that’s were we had to sleep. More people were thrown below deck it was overcrowding quickly. It was going to be a long journey. I couldn’t believe how long it was taking, this was torture, literally. Im sure it was taking less time than it felt, but the bad times tend to pass by slower. People had already died, the bodies were just thrown overboard, they really didn’t care. The sick people were also thrown overboard; sick people were of no use to them. We were all cut, bruised and battered, we were cleaned up; but with sea water full of salt, it stung so much, the pain was horrible it was like one big ache of agony. Every night when we slept on the wooden ‘beds’ we were rocked to sleep by the waves, its was the only way, no way is it possible to get to sleep any other way in these conditions. More people died during the night. They were tossed overboard, without a care. I hated this; I wanted to be back home. I hated hearing a constant cry of pain. I hated people going through this pain. It was all unnecessary suffering, of course that’s not what the captors thought. They made money out of this it was there way of living. I just hope it’s not like this when we arrive; I pray to god I hope it’s not like this. I was taken up deck, the sun stung my eyes. There were already so many people on top deck, it was so overcrowded. Everyone was sat next to each other, crammed together to make more room. When we were lying down we laid so close together, there was no room to move. One person faced upwards, one downwards, one up and so on. This was all so wrong. It shouldn’t be happening. We were being killed, murdered for no reason. I’d rather die than go through this suffering another day, but of course they tried as hard as they could to prevent suicide. It was a long journey. The men that worked on the boat chose a woman to ‘get there way’ with, it’s not right.

One morning I woke up covered in blood and sick, it consisted of mine and the peoples either side of me. So we were washed of with sea water again, the pain. Although I was always in pain my body was a constant ache, worse than ever. After we were made to dance as exercise they said, music was played and our ankles and legs were whipped when we refused to dance. It was like they used us as amusement. We had all become so thin. We were fed but not a lot and what we were fed didn’t give us a lot of nutrition. We were all becoming ill; they didn’t let us get to ill because if we all became too ill we would be useless. The journey just seemed to be getting worse and worse and I really wasn’t looking forward to the future.

          I was cleaned up a bit and taken off the ship. My skin was oiled and I was put into a cage in the market square. There was like a stage and lots of people were gathering round it, more and more all the time. One man kept telling everyone what to do, and constantly walking past us glaring at us all. Gradually one by one we taken out of the cage and placed onto a stage. Finally it was my turn, I was placed on the stage and there were crowds of people. Two men approached me; they poked me, prised my mouth open and looked at every part of me. It was like they were inspecting me. The man called out, he shouted and shouted he spoke so fast I couldn’t make sense of it. Finally he stopped shouting, and I was given to a man who took me away, I had no idea what was going on, where was he taking me?  

I was sent to a farm there were lots of other black slaves there. It was called a plantation farm. I was then sent to work in a field. The field was full of a tall green crop, sugar cane. I had to work 16 hours a day, as soon as it was light enough to work we had to go to the fields and came back when it was to dark to see. It was back breaking work. I saw children at work everyday some were as young as 3, but they always got the easier jobs, like pulling weeds from the fields. Men and woman were allowed to work together in the fields we often worked in small groups. If we refused to work we were punished, we might be whipped, burned, stabbed or tortured. The worse time was when it was harvest it was hard work and took hours, it made my back ache so bad, I just wanted to sit down and rest but I wasn’t even aloud.

There was a big house in the centre of the huge area. Some slaves worked in the house. They often cleaned or cooked. The house was built by the slaves. It was a smart house although I’ve never been inside, we aren’t allowed inside. Our houses are very different we live in small huts, by the side of the big house. They aren’t too close to the house just close enough for them so keep an eye on us. There is a small church and when we arrived we were all baptised and given English names. Although we are now ‘Christian’ we are allowed to hold our original ceremonies at night in the woods as long as we aren’t too loud. We dance and sing it’s so fun, I miss my family usually I would do this with them. It makes me feel miserable that I can’t see them. Ill never be with them again. I think I might be here forever, however long that’ll be.