Smallwood, in the second chapter
Smallwood, in the second chapter, aims to portray in the most potent way the suffering the Africans went through on voyage across the Atlantic Ocean at the peak of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. The chapter’s objective is to bring to the fore the true level of suffering such voyages brought and if possible quantify it to give the clearest picture possible of what was, initially, only described through narrations that though striking in their horrific detail didn’t give a factual representation of actual events.
The structuring of the chapter was systematic in the uncovering of the experience of those on voyage. It is effective as it covers all the angles of the experience, from both the slave’s perspective and those that ferried them. The chapter, from the offset, tries to handle the most fundamental question about the experience of the transatlantic trade, which is how the devastation that resulted from the trade was measured. As detailed, with no personal experience of the sufferings, even by the European voyagers, most people resorted to the number of deaths as the suitable measure of the impact on the slaves. The ships are explained to have been very small in terms of the space available for those inside, and that coupled with the high number of slaves on voyage led to very high density of people. Any effort towards maintaining hygiene was rendered impossible by the horrendous conditions of the closures, which led to rampant infections. Food, also, was a scarce commodity that at most times was available in very small portions for the slaves. All these culminated in the huge number of deaths on transit to Europe, leading to the ship being regarded as the symbol of death for the African slaves for during and after the trade. This account not only answers the question of how the suffering of the people was quantified but gives us an idea of the unimaginable pain the slaves went through, to die slowly amongst themselves with no sign of reprieve. The method, therefore, was potent in its presentation and left the desired mark in the reader.
The use of old transcripts to detail the deaths as they came also worked to assure the reader of the genuineness of the tale. The inclusion of these written bits from Blake, who was aboard the James, re-enforces trust in the information being given. Blake, while on board the James, would document every death that took place on-ship. These recordings included the date of the individual’s death, the gender, and the state of the individual at the time he/she was thrown into sea which was the preferred means of disposal of dead bodies. Though chilling, the records truly bring to the fore how true the events detailed were, and that they actually took place.
The pain from the voyage, however, wasn’t exclusive to those who died from it but also those made it all the way, and this is also brought out effectively in this chapter. It is detailed how the death of the slaves affected the rest mentally. The lack of a dignified send-off as is characteristic of African cultures was denied by the casual dumping of bodies into the ocean and this traumatised those that witnessed it. The mental scars were coupled by the physical pain and deprivation of human dignity that was experienced throughout the voyage. The slaves were all chained and forced to stay in uncomfortable postures throughout the voyage, enduring extreme pain to the point that the occasional walk on deck that was accorded to them was a great source of relief. The hurt of even those that survived the journey is, therefore, clearly brought up in this narration.
Smallwood structures the chapter in such a way that the true pain of those that experienced the savagery of the transatlantic trade is brought out. The deaths, as detailed earlier, were documented individually which served the purpose of attaching value to each of the lives lost, as opposed to being part of a large figure. This increased the potency of the loss of these lives, hence the mode of delivery by Smallwood was overall effective in conveying the devastating loss of human life that happened during the voyage.