Text by: Roar Løken

Kill Devil:

When the Danish-Norwegian slave ships reached the Gold Coast (now Ghana), there were usually already a number of enslaved people in the fortresses we had there. They had been kidnapped by African slave hunters or they could be prisoners of war after a local tribal settlement. As a rule, they came from the interior and had been taken on foot south towards the coast and a bleak fate. Almost all the slave routes passed through the city of Kumasi, which was the capital of the Ashanti people. From there, paths and roads led to the slave fortresses of the various colonial powers. Before they got that far, they were bought by local slave traders who met the European buyers to discuss the price. The African slave traders were quite aware of what kind of goods they wanted in exchange. In other words, the Europeans were completely dependent on Africans who were willing to sell other Africans. The Europeans were few in number and very vulnerable to various tropical diseases. As a result, they could not go inland themselves to obtain the labor they were looking for. It wasn't just the desire for profit that made Africans willing to take part in this. It was also the case that if the neighboring tribe had sold slaves and received modern rifles in exchange, they might feel compelled to do the same in order to defend themselves.

The Danish slave trader Ludvig F. Rømer has described the price of "a first-class male slave" in 1749:

2 flintlock rifles at 6 riksdaler.

40 pounds of gunpowder

1 anchor Danish liquor

various Indian textiles

2 rods iron

1 copper rod

In cabes corals

1 tin crumb (bowl)

20 pounds of cowrie shells (snail shell.)

The value of the goods and thus the payment for the slave was calculated at 96 riksdaler.

When the deal was done, the enslaved were branded, chained and placed in a slave cellar. They knew very little about what awaited them. There were many imaginative stories about what the Europeans would do to them.

It often took several months before the captain of the slave ship was satisfied with the cargo. By then, he had often anchored at several of the fortresses to get more Africans on board. The stay on the coast was more dangerous for the Europeans than for the Africans, as the Africans had somewhat better immunity to the local diseases. They also tolerated the local drinking water a little better.

When the captain was finally satisfied, the anchors were hoisted and the westward voyage began. In other words, they sailed east first. Since both the current and the wind were taking them east, this was common. At São Tomé, they took on drinking water and fresh food before they started sailing in the right direction. In practice, they roughly followed the equator and the so-called Pacific Belt. As the word suggests, this was a stretch of sea where there was usually little wind, but some current, and fortunately it was going in the right direction. The crossing could therefore take a long time. It was not uncommon for the enslaved to rebel. This usually happened during the first part of the voyage, while they still had land in sight. The reason for the rebellions was often the fear of what would happen to them.

The enslaved were stowed quite tightly in the hold. The men were chained two by two with ankle chains to make it more difficult to escape by jumping overboard. The boats were also often equipped with so-called fin nets. These were stretched out so that if someone tried to jump over the rail, they would end up in the net. The women and children lived separately from the men and were allowed to spend more time up on deck than the men. Down below deck, toilet buckets were placed. If one of the men had to get up during the night, the person he was chained to also had to go to the toilet. Especially if there was a lot of bad weather during the crossing, the stench eventually became almost unbearable, from vomit and from buckets that had fallen over. It was said that if they encountered other ships, the sailors on the other ship could smell a slave ship coming from afar.

The destination of the Danish-Norwegian slave ships was the Danish West Indies, three islands in the Caribbean, which today make up the US Virgin Islands. When the slave ship approached, it was common for the enslaved to be given a little more food and drink. They had to look good when they arrived at the slave market.

The slave auction was often advertised shortly after arrival, so that those who were looking for more labor could get their bearings and get to the auction in time. It was often stated how many men, women and children came for sale and where they came from.

Just before the auction, everyone was washed, all hair was shaved off and then they were oiled to make them look young and fresh. Before the auctioneer began his work, the potential buyers were allowed to look at the "goods". Then they could study the individual before deciding to bid; checking their teeth, assessing their muscles, joints and examining whether they suffered from venereal diseases.

As soon as the auction was over, the slaves were branded again. This time by their new owner, before they were taken "home". It was common for families to be separated in this way, as husband and wife were often bought by different slave owners. The children usually followed the mother.

Most of the men and some of the women were used as plantation workers. Some were used for domestic work such as childcare and kitchen work. If some of the slaves were craftsmen, they could be used as artisan slaves. The owner could then hire them out to others, such as carpenters.

It was common for there to be around ten enslaved people for every free one. Plantation owners therefore always feared slave revolts. This is part of the explanation for the use of violence against the slave population. The owners felt that they had to show that they had the power. Since the enslaved were brought from different parts of Africa and belonged to different tribes that spoke different languages, this made it more difficult for the enslaved to cooperate and resist, even though there were many more of them. It has been estimated that the enslaved people on the three islands that made up the Danish West Indies (St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix) spoke approximately 50 different languages.