Out of Africa

 Religion and slavery

If you are a descendant of African slaves, you shouldn’t visit Ghana without going to Cape Coast to see for yourself, some of the atrocities of the Atlantic slave trade.

This horrid place is 135km journey from Accra, the capital.

There you find Elmina Town on the Atlantic Ocean. That is where the shipment of captured and tortured slaves took place. 

Today it is a bustling fishing village to which traders come to from near and far to get supplies.

However, still visible and intimidating is a solid building on the hill overlooking the town. 

This was the army barracks which housed the well-armed soldiers who guarded the slave port, the fort and castle in which the human cargo were held.

In short, that is where the most heart-wrenching example of 'man's inhumanity to man' and the evils of Christianity, still stand fully exposed.

 It is also now an UNESCO heritage site.

This is Elmina Castle where the slaves were held, traded and tortured. The second floor had a chapel and religious quarters.

This castle was erected in 1482 by the Portuguese as a normal trading center until they realized how much more lucrative it was to trade in humans rather than products.

The Dutch seized the castle and fort from the Portuguese in 1637 and like their predecessors, used the promise of milk and honey through Christianity, to fool native chiefs and lull them into complacency while they continued the lucrative slave trade across the Atlantic.

In the mid 1600’s, the British who had become the most successful slave-trading nation, took over the castle and used it as their main slave trading post until 1807.

Between 1650 and 1860, it is estimated that approximately 10 and 15 million Africans were transported, often more dead than alive, to the colonies in the Caribbean, North and South America and to other countries.

Although the British claimed they had officially abolished slavery in 1837, their traders either outrightly or covertly, continued the trade or owned most of the ships that took millions more of captured Africans to their doom.

I often heard our Ghanaian guide's voice crack with emotion as he related some of the atrocities our ancestors experienced there.

What was especially disgusting for me was seeing the Biblical quotes all over the chapel and the space where the religious leaders slept. 

This is right above where slaves were tortured and kept chained in dark dungeons on cold bare floors.

On trading days, the slaves would be paraded naked below, as the buyers inspected them through the peep hole on the chapel floor and choose the ones they wanted.

Once the deal was done, the slave would then be branded with hot irons, with the names of their new owner.

Female slaves were also held naked and chained too. Sometimes they never received any food for 72 hours and all bathroom activities happened right there.

As the traders did not travel with their women, when they wanted sex, they would take one or a few females outside and wash them off. The water used to bathe them came from an underground drainage which they said they could never use themselves, as it was toxic.

Females who resisted were brutally punished. Those who got pregnant would be taken away to the town to deliver and brought back to the dungeon immediately.

Their children were never seen by them.

The dungeon to which rebellious slaves were taken had no ventilation, and the slaves were left there to starve to death. Their bodies were then dumped in the ocean.

The door of no return which led out to the ocean, was through which the slaves were taken out to the shore to board to small canoes which took them to the large slave ships anchored offshore.

Quite frankly, after seeing it all, I was shocked at how much Ghanaians are still into Christianity today despite these stark reminders in their midst of how evil it all is! (25% of Ghanaians are Muslim, the rest are Christian.)

 I have never seen more posters and billboards vying for people's souls anywhere else in the world than on this road from Accra to Cape Castle!

I estimated that at least 70% of all the roadside ads were about church activities, a small number advertised funerals and memorials, and the rest were commercial.

Jamaica has just as many actual churches as they do (proportionate to size and population of course) but they spend a lot more money by far on advertising religion than we do.

On a lighter note, whereas in Jamaica, there is usually a bar or two beside each church, I saw very few bars along the road to Cape Coast or anywhere else in general.

It seems Ghanaians concentrate on one spirit only.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Religion and slavery

Yesterday was our day to face the atrocities of the Atlantic slave trade. 

For this, we undertook the 135km journey from Accra to Cape Coast.

The roads are relatively good and we had an excellent driver in Livingston, who doubles as my informant on everything cultural, tribal and historical.😊.

He is well rounded.

Livingston is extremely knowledgeable.

Ghanaians, I find in the main, to be very polite and capable drivers and they are prevented from speeding too much due to the proliferation of speed bumps, (aka. sleeping policemen) large and small.

 Elmina Town today is a bustling fishing village, to which traders come to from near and far to get supplies.

The building on the hill is where the army barracks were for those who guarded the slaves and the fort at Elmina. In front, people hanging out at the bridge watching fishing boats come and go.

The market is below.

A long sea wall keeps out the water from the angry Atlantic Ocean.

The castle bears the memories of 'man's inhumanity to man' and the evils of Christianity.

Biblical quote in chapel above where slaves were tortured.

It was first erected in 1482 by the Portuguese as a trading center until they realized how much more lucrative it was to trade in humans rather than goods.

It is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Dutch seized the castle and fort from the Portuguese in 1637 and like their predecessors, used the promise of milk and honey through Christianity, to fool native chiefs and lull them into complacency while they continued the lucrative slave trade across the Atlantic, there.

Britain was one of the most successful slave-trading countries. Together with Portugal, the two countries accounted for about 70% of all Africans transported to the Americas.

Britain was the most dominant between 1640 and 1807 when  it is estimated that Britain transported 3.1 million Africans (of whom 2.7 million arrived) to the British colonies in the Caribbean, North and South America and to other countries.

The British took over Elmina Castle and the fort in 1837 after they claimed they had officially officially abolished slavery In 1807. However their traders either outrightly continued the trade or owned most of the ships that took millions of captured Africans to their doom.

You could often hear our guide's voice crack with emotion as he related some of the atrocities our ancestors experienced.

 He reminded me a lot of our guide at Robben island where Mandela had been imprisoned 😡.

Slaves were kept on the ground floor of the castle. The second floor was a chapel and where religious leaders lived and the third floor was the governor's residence.

Taking a break from the heartbreaking stories 

This is a museum today but it was also a chapel on the second floor. On the ground floor slaves would be paraded and buyers would inspect them through the peep hole on the chapel floor and choose the ones they wanted.

They would then be branded with hot irons bearing the names of their new owner.

The passage leading to a dungeon

This is where female slaves were held naked and chained. Sometimes they never received any food for 72 hours and all bathroom activities happened right there 😡.
The traders did not bring women so when they wanted sex, they would take one ore a few out and wash them off. The water used to bathe them came from an underground drainage which the Dutch said they could never use themselves, as it was toxic.

Those females who resisted were brutally punished.

 Those who got pregnant would be taken away to deliver and brought back to the dungeon immediately.

Their children were never seen by them.

The door of no return through which slaves were transported to small canoes. The canoes took them to the large slave ships anchored offshore.

The dungeon to which rebellious slaves were taken. It had no ventilation and they were starved to death, then their bodies dumped in the ocean.

One of the smaller religious billboards on the roadside.

I am shocked at how much Ghanaians are into Christianity today despite this stark reminders in their midst of how evil it was! (25% of Ghanians are Muslim, the rest are christian.)

This Methodist church was built in 1900.

I have never seen more posters and billboards vying for people's souls anywhere else in the world as on this road from Accra to Cape Castle. For, I dear say, at least 70% of the roadside ads were about church activities, a small number advertised funerals and memorials and the rest were commercial.

 I conclude therefore that Ghanians worship one spirit only!😁

Jamaica has just as many actual church buildings as they do (proportionate to size and population of course) but whereas in Jamaica, there is a bar beside each church (for the men?)😚, I saw very few bars along the road to Cape Coast.