| The journey lasted from eight to
ten weeks. It was not uncommon for some of the captured to attempt to escape by jumping
overboard. When others refused to eat, a slave ship's crew member would, if necessary,
break the teeth of the hunger strikers and force feed them because loss of black life
meant a loss of revenue. The captured slaves shared no common language and could not
communicate with each other. Some went mad in the claustrophobic quarters, others murdered
those next to them to gain space. Some captains used a system called loose packing to
deliver slaves. Under that system, captains transported fewer slaves than their ships
could carry in the hope of reducing sickness and death among them. Other ship captains
preferred tight packing. They believed that many blacks would die on the voyages anyway,
so carried as many slaves as their ship could hold. All captains estimated that they would
lose a percentage of African cargo in death via escape, suffocation, or illness. The slave
‘voyage’ is realistically depicted in Steven Spielberg’s 1997 movie,
"Amistad". [Back]
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