Louisiana Slave

Running Head: THE LOUISIANA SLAVE DATABASE PROJECT #2

Jade Sommer Pernell The Louisiana Slave Database Project #2 SOWK 300 Tuskegee University October 15, 2011

DESCRIPTIVE DISCUSSION: The data being displayed in the above graph is indicative of the state of Louisianas slave database. These are descriptions of the lives and plight of human beings. The above data depicts how the slaves that were captured were categorized and labeled. There were several skills that the slave owners looked for and sought when purchasing a slave. From agriculture to health care those proprietor slaves and the growing consumer base regarded these human beings as chattel and classified their use and skills as such.

INTERPRETIVE DISCUSSION: The data represented above is a brief synopsis of the skills that were viable to those interested in the purchase of these human beings or slaves. The most clearly represented skills among the slaves were agriculture, domestics, and crafts. Agriculture could have been seen as the most viable skill simply because the base of the southern economy was agriculture in particularly two cash crops cotton and tobacco. A slave that was unfortunate enough to have a green thumb was seen as a valuable commodity that could in turn instruct other slaves and create a return of investment for the owner. Domestics could cover a wide range of things from wet nursing to simply cleaning and cooking. Domestics played a large role in the recruitment of female slaves along with their disposition. Lastly would be crafts which could include a Merete of things from knitting and sewing to the invaluable skill of carpentry. These types of skills were smiled upon by potential slave owners because the slave could potentially produce a doubling of revenues. Many slaves skills were not listed, in my opinion this could be for a number of reasons

DESCRIPTIVE DISCUSSION: The data being displayed in the above graph is indicative of the state of

Louisianas slave database. These are descriptions of the lives and plight of human beings. The above data depicts the most common African regions from which the slaves captured. There were several areas of Africa from which the slaves captured dependent upon the Slave trapping company and the country from which they were hailing from. From missing information to Senegambia to Central Africa slaves were drawn from all four corners of the African continent.

INTERPRTIVE DISCUSSION: The data represented above is a brief synopsis of the countries within

Africa from which the majority of slaves were captured. The most clearly represented countries were the following, Senegambia, Sierra Leone, Bright of Benin, Central Africa and Africans Only. Sierra Leone, Bright of Benin, and Senegambia are close to the African coast making it easy to access the cargo they had captured. With ports and docking areas set up at each coastal export, the distribution, sale, and captures of slaves was a flourishing market in coastal Africa. While other underrepresented countries were inland, such as Central Africa, Mozambique , and Bight of Biafra made for more difficult capture, sale, and transport of captured slaves to coastal ports, this transport of inland African slaves was more costly, perilous, and an exacerbating daunting task for said slave capturers. Many slaves original African origin could not have been listed, in my opinion for a number of reasons. The missing data could be due to multiple contributors, lost records, under the table trading of slaves between villagers and slave proprietors, spoils of war being traded for profit, even family rivalry gone astray.

DESCRIPTIVE DISCUSSION: The data being displayed in the above graph is indicative of the state of

Louisianas slave database. These are descriptions of the lives and plight of human beings. The above data depicts the most common African languages spoken among the captured slaves. There were several areas of African Languages spoken among the captured slaves but the two most notable are Benue- Congo and Mande. Missing information trumps a majority of the data depicted leaving the researcher to wonder where the unaccounted for slaves came from and did that affect their dialect and communication with other captured African slaves

INTERPRETIVE DISCUSSION: The data represented above is a brief synopsis of the African

languages spoken among the majority of captured African slaves. The most clearly represented African languages are Benue- Congo and Mande which can lead a researcher to imply the due to the fact that a majority of captured slaves hailed from coastal Africa, the large majority of African languages spoken among the captured slaves would have been coastal African languages, moreover, an astonishing coincidence being that the Congo is located in Central Africa which showed diminished numbers in the African regions captured index, was Benue Congo a wide spread popular language due to trade or war fare? The lesser represented languages such as Gur, Gbe, Swa, and West Atlantic , raises a question of why West Atlantic, a region where a majority of slaves were captured was spoken less than Benue Congo and central African language, it could be assessed that due to the terrain of most West African countries, the capture of its inhabitants, proved more difficult and tedious. This raises another question due to the predominantly flat geography of Central Africa; did this make their capture easier or due to the lack of communication and fear of the white man lead to blind trust, even until the enslavement of a whole nation? The missing data could be due to multiple contributors, lost records, under the table trading of slaves between villagers and slave proprietors, spoils of war being traded for profit, even family rivalry gone astray.

DESCRIPTIVE DISCUSSION: The data being displayed in the above graph is indicative of the state of

Louisianas slave database. These are descriptions of the lives and plight of human beings. The above data depicts the most common origins from which the slaves, hailed before their capture. There were not many areas from which the slaves hailed due to the positioning of the triangle slave trade. Missing information trumps a majority of the data depicted leaving the researcher to wonder where the unaccounted for slaves came from and did that affect their attitude toward the capturer.

INTERPRETIVE DISCUSSION: The data represented above is a brief synopsis of the origin from

which the slaves hailed , prior to their capture. The most clearly represented areas of origin were Africa followed by the Creoles and lastly the Caribbean and Anglo regions. With ports and docking areas set up at each coastal export, the distribution, sale, and captures of slaves was a flourishing market in coastal Africa, the Caribbean and the Americas. While the other underrepresented ports such as the Indians and lastly the Unidentified make up an overwhelming majority of the slave populous. The missing data could be due to multiple contributors, lost records, under the table trading of slaves between villagers and slave proprietors, spoils of war being traded for profit, even family rivalry gone astray.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION In summation , the Louisiana Slave database is a numerical representation of the mistreatment of African slaves in this country, a country built on the principles of freedom and equality, human beings were treated as chattel and property, movable pieces of equipment that lacked, feelings, emotions, patriarchal references and all other things that makes us human and separates us from the likes of animals were stripped from the slave. Let this be a reminder to us all , the price our past has paid to ensure our debt free future, let it not be taken for granted.