The transatlantic trade which mainly took place across the Atlantic ocean was a major event in world history. Transportation of human cargo into European countries to work in the plantation fields was a popular form of trade. Since Europeans had vast lands to cultivate, it meant that they required plenty of workers. This was the main purpose of the slave trade across the Atlantic ocean. The Chesapeake plantation was among the many plantations where slaves worked. Slaves worked by force in the plantations while living in unacceptable conditions. Africa was a primary source of slaves and the transatlantic trade mainly targeted areas in West Africa. Most of the West African slaves worked across the Chesapeake plantation (Walsh, 2003).
This paper will explore the various conditions and adaptations that the African slaves acquired while working in the Chesapeake plantation. Most of the slaves who worked in the plantation had different cultural backgrounds. Understanding each other was a problem due to language barriers. This led to the development of groups by people who spoke the same language. Group formation fostered the progress of native West African cultural practices. This included song and dance for entertainment purposes. Singing was mainly done by communities such as the Igbo, Moko, and Efik (Walsh, 2003). The discovery of evidence showing the existence of drums and other musical instruments by historian Benjamin Latrobe acts as proof.
Spirituality was a significant factor that brought the African slaves together in their native lands. They upheld their spiritual practices at their own free time away from the plantation works. Evidence of this exists in the Chesapeake plantations where archeologists have unearthed various artifacts. Among these include wine bottles, tobacco pipes, animal teeth, and white stones (Walsh, 2003). According to the contemporary West African cultures, the uses of these objects were to perform rituals honoring the ancestors. Healing charms were also worn during these days and this portrays how they believed in spiritual beings while in captivity.
Slaves in Chesapeake shared a common geographical origin. Most of the slaves mainly originated from the West African region. This is a reason that mainly promoted their unity and continuity of various practices in the plantation. The people from the Northern, Southern, and Central parts of West Africa were mainly settled in the upper Chesapeake plantation. This helped the slaves adapt to the environment faster and easier. Those who were in the lower Chesapeake region came from areas such as Senegambia, Sierra Leone, and windward gold coast. This is evidence of similarity in the geographical locations of slaves (Walsh, 2003). Slaves from the same region found themselves in one region of the Chesapeake plantation.
In conclusion, the article’s author needed to expand more on the various key areas of slavery in the Chesapeake plantation. The article does not provide a detailed analysis of how the slaves in Chesapeake plantation adapted to the environmental changes. It instead gives a tale of how the slaves were transported to the plantation. These details forget the important facts such as the roles played by slave traders and the adaptation of the slaves. Slavery is a key aspect in history and the article does not provide a detailed analysis into the spirituality and culture of the slaves. The main question of how, and if they do adopt new ways of life or stick to their traditional ways is of key importance.
Reference
Walsh, L. (2003). Transatlantic slave trade and colonial Chesapeake slavery. Journal of history, 17, 11-15.