Factors governing relations between enslaved people and enslaversSailing technology
Traders on the slave ships and masters on the plantations showed lack of humanitarian concern, prejudice and racism towards enslaved people. Their main concern was to make the land owners a profit.
The wooden sailing ships were tiny in comparison to modern liners. The average journey time from the West African coast to the Americas was six to eight weeks and for many enslaved people this was the worst experience of their lives.
In bad weather the enslaved people would not be brought up on deck. They were largely untended and kept continuously shackled in the dark holds. They were even served their meals in the hold. It was in these conditions that the enslaved people suffered the most discomfort, particularly as the air vents often had to be covered.
Owners rarely went on voyages, so it was easier for them to ignore humanitarian concerns.
If the slaves and their rooms can be constantly aired, and they are not detained too long on board, perhaps not many die; but the contrary is often their lot. They are kept down by the weather to breathe a hot and corrupted air, sometimes for a week... the galling of the irons... and the despondency... soon becomes fatal, more instances than one are found of the living and the dead fastened together.
鈥 John Newton (1788)
The Slave Trade Regulation Act of 1788
The only regulation from British Parliament came very late in the day. The Act is also known as Dolben's Law after the MP and ship inspector who pushed it through Parliament.
The act limited the number of enslaved people the ships could carry in relation to the size of the ship
The act also rewarded captains and ship doctors who kept alive more than 97 enslaved people in 100 on the journey
The Slave Trade Regulation Act of 1788 reduced the death rate of enslaved people on ships.