Why would anybody choose to serve on slave ships when the conditions were so terrible and dangerous?
All sailors faced a harsh life. The Navy was particularly brutal. The Scottish apprentices who later testified claimed that they were naïve and drawn to the trade by the lure of exotic places. It was also a free passage to the West Indies and the prospect of making money. Where are all the ‘black voices’ from the slave trade – why is mostly ‘white voices’ telling the story? Answer: Only three former slaves are known to have written down their experiences. They had been taught to read and write by their owners. Most slaves were kept illiterate. Family groups were broken up and sold separately so little was passed on of their homeland. If the horrors of the ‘Middle Passage’ were known for over a century – why did take so long to mount a campaign to stop it? Answer: There were no investigative journalists then and very few newspapers. What was known was from sailors returning home. Many thought it was the fault of a bad captain. As most people in Scotland did not have the vote at the time
