Hello,
I'm trying to figure out how much worse was life as a slave in the USA vs life in Africa (for the people that were taken). In that spirit, I ask the question:
What percentage of slaves would choose the 2nd option if presented with the following options:
Trying to get an idea what would 1st generation or follow-up generation slaves would have said (potentially if they had an accurate representation of living conditions in Africa).
The only thing I found by research is for freed slaves, which obviously didn't want to return:
the movement was an overwhelming failure; very few free slaves wanted to move to Africa
Bonus question (If you think the above is an unfair question due to psychological factors / how the human mind works for someone born into slavery):
- What percent of today's Americans would prefer their conciseness teleported into a US slave rather than an African free person (if they would know the realities on the ground) ?
Thanks!
Nearly every slave would have chosen to live in Africa vs. being a slave. There are some things to consider here though:
Most (though importantly, not all) slaves who lived in Africa and then we’re transported to America in the Columbian exchange were purchased from Africans who themselves had enslaved them. So, they were still slaves when they were in Africa.... so choosing to live in Africa vs. America wouldn’t actually change their status as a slave. That being said, there was a point where many of those slaves were not always slaves and only became so through war (imagine POWs that became the winning parties slaves). Some were also born into it... it varies by case... So, they probably would chose to go back to their lives before slavery if they could.
Another thing to consider was that even though most of them were slaves in Africa, they were not exposed to the grueling, cruel, torturous work that plantations in the new world would use them for. Now, not every slave would become a plantation worker, but that was what the majority of them became... and I’m willing to bet that most of them ‘enjoyed’ Their lives more when they were slaves in Africa vs. plantation slaves. But again, this varies by case... a slave who gets bought by a more ‘lenient’ and ‘sympathetic’ master (comparatively speaking) than his master in Africa probably wouldn’t want to go back to that master.
Now, To specifically answer your question of ‘would they want to be put in a random location in Africa’... that gets a bit tricky, but essentially it’s similar to what runaway slaves would face if they escaped from their plantation, they’d be in an unfamiliar territory with only their wits about them, minus of course the punishment of doing so. That being said, I think a lot of slaves would have taken their chances if they were allowed to run away... many of them still took that chance even with the possibility of punishment.
Add that to the fact that they would be dropped off in a place where their language was spoken and the odds of someone deciding to return increases.
Keep in mind though; it would mean making the 5 month journey back on a boat which most slaves (I would assume) never want to relive. Just look up pictures of slave ship arrangements to know why....
All and all, I think a majority would chose being dropped off in Africa vs continuing live as a slave so long as they didn’t have to relive the boat transport (in the same method). Plantation work really was that bad...
TL;DR: Life as a free African was miles, miles better than life as an American slave.