Benefits of African Morality in La Florida
It stands as no secret that American slavery was an extended
era of brutality, mistreatment, and dehumanization. Yet, less attention is
devoted to the arduous voyages that transported said slaves from their
homeland. One could argue that the journeys, which often took several weeks to
a few months, were more damaging to would-be African slaves than the day to day
struggle that would follow upon landing. Injustice was the status quo, but,
this typicality is broken on occasion. Juan Ponce de Leon, though owning slaves
and following the trend to a certain degree, was known to work and travel
alongside free Africans and permitted better treatment of Africans in general. It
is very likely that St. Augustine’s early prosperity was a result of better
treatment of Africans in general, unlike many other early societies.
These voyages were brutal for the sailors aboard, but there
are few words to encompass the intolerable conditions that the enslaved were
forced to endure. Packed in, quite literally, like sardines in chains, there
was rarely room to stand or lie comfortably in the darkness. Furthermore, these
people would be stored into the cargo portion toward the bottom of the ship.
Emphasis should be taken on the term ‘cargo’ considering they were viewed as
tools or equipment: less than human. As such cargo, basic human needs were
ignored such as eating, treatment for the innumerable diseases, or being
allowed to relieve themselves with decency. Eating was also a complex struggle.
It is not difficult to make the assumption that sailors who were willing to
store hundreds of people into the bottom of a boat would not be keen on feeding
them. Enslaved people were obviously starved, but were not too trusting of the
food that their European captors offered them which often resulted in
punishment. Olaudah Equiano is a familiar name in the Atlantic world. A former
slave, his widely accepted account of the Middle Passage gives specific insight
to the experience of the journey to forced servitude. During his suffering,
Equiano writes: “I now wished for the last friend, Death, to relieve me” and
shortly after, details his punishment of refusing to eat in that he was tied by
his hands and feet before being flogged severely. Conditions such as these
resulted in many deceased, or live, but sickly, Africans being tossed
overboard.
As previously mentioned, St. Augustine succeeded as a city
in terms of relative treatment to slaves, construction, and resources but did
not totally depend on the dehumanization of their workers. With this in mind,
the question begs itself: was St. Augustine’s somewhat decent treatment of
African servants beneficial for its foundation? Perhaps this is indeed the
case. Ponce de Leon traveled alongside and worked with Africans. This is
incredibly important because it shows that he was able to recognize the
humanity in both free Africans and enslaved ones. To add, there were significantly
less slaves transported to La Florida in general than the likes of what would
become South Carolina and Virginia. The Slave Trade Database shows that very
few Africans arrived to La Florida when compared to other “New World” regions.
In fact, the most slaves transported in one voyage was on Jada Dias de Carvelho’s
Bellona, which carried approximately
three hundred slaves in 1810 and James Furse’s Susannah, holding ninety-three
servants in 1768. With fewer, usually skilled, workers available, better
conditions were encouraged.
To conclude, Florida’s early success was evidently due to
its progressive slave culture and view of Africans in general. Florida’s later
history did not respect these same morals and rejects its earlier history in
St. Augustine. With the few Africans available to perform laborious tasks,
combined with Ponce de Leon’s initial reverence for those he toiled with, La
Florida was able to make greater strides than other nations that would soon
follow.
Sources:
Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano: or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Printed for, and Sold by the Author, 1793.
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