Photographer unknown, Nov. 1, 1868, Children slaves on Indian ocean passage

Slaves captured from the Congo aboard an Arab slave ship intercepted by the Royal Navy (Dutch HMS Daphne).

Most European naval powers agreed to end the slave trade early in the 19th century, but illegal commerce continued. Photography did not exist during the heyday of the slave trade but was available when a British Navy officer on a ship intercepting slavers in 1868 took this picture. Shipboard conditions look much like the graphic depictions in earlier accounts. As in the past, children and those not thought dangerous were allowed on deck. Others were kept in the hold.

This photograph reveals a very little of the terrible suffering caused to millions of people by the slave trade. This group of severely emaciated boys and young men on the lower deck of a Royal Naval ship apparently have been taken from what was a slave vessel trading illegally off the African coast headed to the Americas. The captain of the Royal Naval ship had instructions not to return the rescued slaves to the place on the coast where they had been put on the slave ship (presumably because they were in danger of being recaptured by traders); it is not clear from the available documentation what happened to them afterwards.

Copy of an original Bill of Sale for slaves in Charleston SC:

(original lo-res source: manufactoriel; thanks to / via: 6dollarsandacigarette)