“Barting for Slaves on the Gold Coast” is from “The New York Public Library’s the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture”: “In Motion: The African American Migration Experience”. This is a sample of Noel Pittman collection Etching from a painting by Francois Biard and taken in 1850. According to this picture, “Many men, women, and children died on the way to the coast before the European slavers made their selection. Others died at the port of departure, usually as a result of exposure to new diseases or the appalling conditions in the barracoons, or slave camps”(Biard). This picture describes how Africans that were captured were treated when they were transported to the “new world”.
The people that were on the ship were getting hurt and the European slaves did not care. Many people were even suffering during this time because they may have had a disease or had a certain complication. From this image, I got a sense of surprise because of what these people faced and then a sense of sympathy. The slaves were getting branded, children were getting taken away from their mothers, and Africans were beaten by the Europeans. When these slaves were branding the children, the people around tried to stop it but they did not listen. Some words or phrases you can keep in mind when looking at this picture are Ghana, Gold Coast, and Transatlantic Slave Trade. I think these words are important because this helps you to sum up the picture and let you know what is going on and where things are taking place. I think this picture is sad and when reading the description, it makes you realize that you can die from many things like conditions or even new diseases. These man and women went through life not knowing what will happen to them next. I wonder if these people went through a horror. Transatlantic Slave Trade is the reality of what is happening in the world. The expression on the faces of the Africans are of horror and they also look very scared. It depicts the horrors that people had to go through in the time of slavery, and how the people who bought slaves treated them. Men, women, and children were all facing challenges and were getting treated badly by the European slaves.
In the novel, Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko, I made a connection between Oroonoko treatment on the slave ship and this image with the men, women, and children who were on their way to the coast. It tells the story of how Africans and all other people that were captured and sold as slaves were treated once they stepped off of the slave ships they were on. The Europeans were really treating everyone badly. You just couldn’t do anything, and you just watched people get enslaved.
Another connection is the theme through freedom and slavery. Freedom and slavery were seen throughout the whole book and I also saw it in the image. “He sent a messenger to the camp, with orders to treat with him about the matter, to gain his pardon, and to endeavor to mitigate his grief; but that by no means he should tell him she was sold, but secretly put to death: for he knew he should never obtain his pardon for the other” (Behn 37). He knows that there will be death coming in soon but no one knows who will be towards exactly.” Come, my fellow-slaves, let us descend, and see if we can meet with more honor and honesty in the next world we shall touch upon” (Behn 50). He is trying to see if anyone will be gone like in the image I choose, some people did not make it because of some of the diseases that they had. Some of the children were taken away from their family. The Africans and all other people that were captured and sold as slaves were treated once they stepped off of the slave ships they were on. Not everyone was excepted that were on the ship. Everyone during that time did not freedom but many people were slaves. This quote states “As the leader of the slaves, he argues that no man, woman, or child should ever be enslaved, and that the slaves should unite to become a free and supportive community” (Behn 50). Both men, women, and children had to face whatever came their way and they had to deal with everything that was happening. It was sad to see what these people have to go through on this ship. If someone took them away there was not much that they could do at the time. Like in the image, the people had to do what they were told even if that meant dying or not getting selected by the European Slaves.
The significant thread between the image “Bartering for Slaves on the Gold Coast” and Oroonoko is all the things that they have in common. Some of the common stuff was the way Oroonoko was treated on the slave ship and then the same thing for the men, women, and children and how they got treated on the ship. These two material go hand in hand and develop the same situation during a different time. They speak to one another because Oroonoko faced challenges in many ways with many people. The slaves from the Gold Coast also faced the same problems. Their problem may have been worse because they were getting sick and gaining diseases from people. I think they were surprised as to what was coming their way and people giving their sympathy for them. Many people started feeling sorry for them and especially for the innocent children.
I wonder why people had to be treated this way and if they could have done anything to not have to go through this and face all these challenges? Why were slaves put into all these situations and having to choose people to lose their life? Why did these children have to go through this? When does the slaves know who they want to pick? Why do they choose the people that they do? These people did not deserve to be treated like this. I especially think that it was really sad that the children had to see and go through all these hard times.
Work Cited
Behn, Aphra. “Oroonoko”, edited by Janet Todd, Penguin 2004.
Biard, Francois, “Barting for Slaves on the Gold Coast”. Sample Noel Pittman Collection c. 1850.
