Unfair trade rules forced on poor countries by the World Bank and IMF are having a disastrous effect on local farmers and are putting many of them out of business. Photographer Ian Berry travelled to Ghana with Christian Aid to document the impact of current international trade rules on farmers, traders and poor communities as they struggle to sustain their livelihoods. Just as the 18th century slave trade was about the abuse of economic power and foreign control, so international trading relations between rich and poor countries is much the same today. Is this trading injustice just a modern day slave trade? One of the most striking images of the exhibition was taken with Cape Coast Castle as an imposing backdrop to a thriving local fishing community.
Slavery, which was a major uproar from colonial America to the civil war, is the racial epidemic of the enslavement of people for money and cheap labor with extensive abuses. The question that could be asked is were the slaves dignified, did they still keep their dignity? The word dignity is the conducting of self-respect as a person sees himself or herself rather than, how others perceive that person. Slavery has been around for years and slaves have been treated unfairly for countless of reasons and situations. Did they still keep their self-respect?
There was no space and everyone was cramped, often having to crouch or lie down. Women and children were kept in separate quarters which gave them limited freedom, however it also exposed to them violence and sexual abuse. * There was a constant threat of disease, the air was foul and seasickness was very common. Lack of sanitation and suffocating meant that there was a constant threat of disease such as smallpox, scurvy and measles. When these diseases spread, the sicker Africans were often thrown overboard.
First off the first slaves came from Africa in 1619 which was brought to Virginia. Slavery was system in America that made it legal for whites to buy and own blacks and use them for labor. Slavery was a state to state thing there were many slave owners and famous slave owners were the Framers also known as the founding fathers. Something interesting about the founding fathers were they were hypocrites because most of them were against slavery when they owned slaves, for example George Washington had many slaves but he was against slavery. Another thing to know is that that in the south slaves were considered as three fifths of a person.
In the book, enslaved Africans are crudely treated in white owners’ plantations; furthermore, the conditions of salves are inferior in real history. Beyond doubt, the Book of Negroes has strong connections with actual history. Aminata is sent onto the deck of a huge vessel with a rotting smell after months of marching. This part of plot is related to history because salves were truly transported by slave ships from Africa to the Americas; “the earliest ships used to transport human beings from Africa to enslavement in North America were converted merchantmen; later, special vessels were built, equipped with air scuttles, ports, and open gratings” (Mannix, “Slave Ships”). While Aminata is going down into the ship, she finds the living conditions of black people in the dark, stinking place are excessively disgusting; she describes “[their] corridor [is] nothing but a narrow footpath separating the men to [their] left and right.
The arrival of the Portuguese and the growing demand for labor in the New World and islands of the Atlantic initiated the enslavement and transportation of Africans by boat to such destinations.4 The experience of the slave became extraordinarily different during such times, with many intense hardships endured, and as a result, an effect on African society that would last into the times of present day society. Before the Atlantic slave trade was initiated, Africa knew of slavery to a reasonably large extent. Slavery had been a relatively minor institution throughout pre-Roman to modern times.5 Many of Africa’s states were free to buy and sell slaves, and traders searching for gold deposits began transporting slaves along caravan routes that lead across the Sahara to the North of Africa to work in mines.6 The expansion of Islam in the eighth century saw an increase in the trade. The number of slaves one had was a
This was used to make rum. From the West Indies merchants carried the rum, along with guns, gunpowder, and tools to West Africa. they traded their items for slaves, they carried the slaves to the West Indies where they were sold. Traders would take the profits and buy more molasses. The trip was horrible.
What Lay Behind The Horrors Of The Slave Trade? In order to clearly understand what lay behind the horrors of the slave trade, we firstly need to acknowledge how the slave trade worked and took place. The slave trade, was set out like a triangle which was covered by a ship, set from Britain to Africa and then to the West Indies. However, the Slave Trade started like this… In Britain, many powerful and wealthy merchants carried several types of merchandise which were manufactured in Britain, some of them to name were; Guns, Alcohol, Iron Bars. All of these items were very cheaply made, but in Africa they were considered as very expensive and so all of these goods were then to taken to the docs in; Glasgow, Liverpool or Bristol.
According to Davis, slaves and peasants were perceived and subjected to common stereotypes regarding the color of their skin, the customs many of the enslaved peoples had before they were conquered, and how the elite upper classes and literate people looked down on them as a dehumanized object. To support this theory, he looked into the role that color symbolism and how physical appearance had a large impact on this misconception. (Davis 50, 57) Another sample he looked and discussed was Islamic and Christian geographic expansions and conflicts that led to the creation of the term Racism that is linked to historic events involving slavery. (Davis 54, 60) Winthrop argues that Slavery and Racism was created at the same time. He supports this argument by looking closely at the meaning of the symbolism behind the color black.
Another disease soldiers caught during World War 1 is dysentery. Dysentery is an infection of the intestines marked by severe diarrhoea, caused by poor water supply, water cleanliness and no proper toilets for the soldiers to use. Dirty drinking water caused a lot of problems during World War 1, mainly because it contains all sorts of illnesses and diseases, which once you have in your system, cause you to get ill. Cholera was cause by dirty water, causing sickness, diarrhoea and even death it if was left untreated for long enough. Trench mouth was also common during World War 1. This is where you get an infection of the mouth, caused by poor oral hygiene and lack of important vitamins, due to a poor diet, smoking, tooth or mouth infections and stress.