Devils Advocate
Devils Advocate- Short Paper
Between 1540 and 1850 an estimated 13 million African slaves were transported to the Americas. An estimated 50% saw land again. Slaves were transported as if they weren’t even living, just like lumber, or grains. The blame for this torture lies on the white captains of the ships. Each captain knew exactly the conditions the slaves lived in but always turned a blind eye or even made conditions worse for self-satisfaction. Captains were guilty of multitudes of crimes including human trafficking, murder, and cruel punishment, even for the time era. One should never suffer for another’s satisfaction. By the time of the late 1700’s, Britain was outraged at the trade of African’s but this did not affect the money hungry ship captains. Particularly James Irving wrote to his wife “Our black cattle are intolerably noisy and I'm almost melted in the midst of five or six hundred of them”-p7. Hatred and racism made monsters of these people, blind to the fact they are doing harm to hundred’s of people. Africans were kidnapped, and seen as cattle, with 7 square ft. average to live in. Whoever survived the voyage was sold off, and confined to a life of slavery and torture. Captains stole the identity of Africans, and made a wealthy living off of them. People which they should have been convicted of. Not only guilty of kidnapping innocent people, Captains were guilty for the murder of millions. An estimated 6-7 million slaves died at sea because of disease, starvation, and being beaten to death. Captains ignored the essentials that one needs to survive which resulted in a 50% death rate. Slave laws at the time required each slave be given enough food and water to survive, which makes captains guilty of murder. Ships were extremely dirty which made a hub for disease, also killing off slaves by the thousands. It was not ethical for captains to ignore the needs of the Africans, even with social norms at the time. Captians all of Britain became
Between 1540 and 1850 an estimated 13 million African slaves were transported to the Americas. An estimated 50% saw land again. Slaves were transported as if they weren’t even living, just like lumber, or grains. The blame for this torture lies on the white captains of the ships. Each captain knew exactly the conditions the slaves lived in but always turned a blind eye or even made conditions worse for self-satisfaction. Captains were guilty of multitudes of crimes including human trafficking, murder, and cruel punishment, even for the time era. One should never suffer for another’s satisfaction. By the time of the late 1700’s, Britain was outraged at the trade of African’s but this did not affect the money hungry ship captains. Particularly James Irving wrote to his wife “Our black cattle are intolerably noisy and I'm almost melted in the midst of five or six hundred of them”-p7. Hatred and racism made monsters of these people, blind to the fact they are doing harm to hundred’s of people. Africans were kidnapped, and seen as cattle, with 7 square ft. average to live in. Whoever survived the voyage was sold off, and confined to a life of slavery and torture. Captains stole the identity of Africans, and made a wealthy living off of them. People which they should have been convicted of. Not only guilty of kidnapping innocent people, Captains were guilty for the murder of millions. An estimated 6-7 million slaves died at sea because of disease, starvation, and being beaten to death. Captains ignored the essentials that one needs to survive which resulted in a 50% death rate. Slave laws at the time required each slave be given enough food and water to survive, which makes captains guilty of murder. Ships were extremely dirty which made a hub for disease, also killing off slaves by the thousands. It was not ethical for captains to ignore the needs of the Africans, even with social norms at the time. Captians all of Britain became