The life of a slave in the West Coast of Africa

Slavery was a time when people were treated unfairly and inhuman. Millions of innocent men, women, and children were held captive and died during this time. Slavery started in Africa but it became popular in the West Coast of Africa, where slavery was taking place at its fullest. Even though slavery in Africa was a common way of life for the people that lived there, it was not until the British came to the West Coast is when slavery became an economic interest, and was based on the trade and selling of slaves.
Slavery had no age or gender. There were men, women and children and many members of their families that were taken into slavery. Men and young boys were mostly traded off to be sold during the middle passage. They were traded and sold to work in the in sugar “plantations in the Caribbean Brazil and Louisiana” (p. 107, Abina and the important men) were in need of strong healthy men and that were able to bear the harsh conditions of labor. Even though there were healthy young men and others who were young, these slaves were not lasting more than 7 years. They would die, after they died they would soon be replaced by others slaves. During the middle passage, there was an estimation of about 12.5 million Africans sold to be transferred and shipped to the Americas and other regions where labor was in high demand. This transfer and sale of slaves was taking place in the West Coast of Africa, there was an estimation of 74,000 people that were shipped a year into slavery. The ships that were used to take the slaves to other countries were filled with thousands of slaves to be sold. The conditions the people were living in these boats were horrendous and unbearable. The slaves were chained so that there would be no escapes and the slaves were beaten if they would not obey by the rules on the ships. People were