Slave Castles

Although it was uncomfortable to be there, we visited two famous or should we say infamous castles while in Cape Coast. It is about 3 hours drive west of Accra. Of the many castles constructed along the Gulf of Guinea only 17 remain. Many of these were built to defend the coastline. The Cape Coast castle first constructed in 1653 by the Swedes for trade in timber and gold later became used in trans-Atlantic slave trade. The first picture is a model that shows the entire compound. You can see that it is right at the shoreline. The next few pictures show the inner court of the castle

You can see that the cannons are still in place, including cannon balls of various sizes. The other couple in the pictures are the Bordens, the family history specialists for the area who we went with and showed us around.

The next few pictures are of the dungeons where they kept the Africans while they awaited the slave ships to arrive. The men and women were kept in separate dungeons and most spent up to 3 months without any light and very little food and water. Up to 250 people were crowded into these rooms where it was basically standing room only.

They were forced to live among their own filth including people who had died due to the conditions they suffered. There was not light in the dungeons and limited air circulating. It was uncomfortable to learn that we were not standing on packed dirt floors but rather the remains of human waste that had been packed down over the scores of years.

This next picture is of the ‘door of no return.’ Slaves that lived through the three months in darkness and deprivation faced months on the ocean crammed in the ships, shackled and stacked like books on pallets in the hull of the ships. Only about one third survived.

The next pictures show the shoreline and fishing boats that are used today. We happened to be there on the day they brought their nets in to mend and repair them.

Elmina Castle, built in 1482, is said to be the oldest European built structure in Sub-Saharan Africa, and is also known as St Georges Castle. It also was used to support trans-Atlantic slave trading. It actually had two motes around it but there is no water in the motes now. Stephaney is standing in front of the draw bridge.

The sign below gives you a new perspective on the slave trading and who really was responsible for it. We were told that of the many millions of slaves that were transported out of Africa the first third went to Brazil, the second third went to the Caribbean Islands and the last third went to the US. (read sign below)

Shackles were used for legs, arms and necks. Next to the shackles on the bottom right is a branding iron. Owners branded their slaves on their shoulders, front or back, forehead, arms or back. This helped them sort them out at the destination. Humane treatment of the slaves was not important because the owners insured them against loss.

The cell on the right was for their own people who had a conscience for the way the slaves were being treated.

The words on the plaque read:

In Everlasting Memory

Of the anguish of our ancestors

May those who died rest in peace

May those who return find their roots

May humanity never again perpetrate

such injustice against humanity

We the living vow to uphold this.

The square hole in the ceiling of the picture on the right was where they dropped their food and the people had to try to catch and fight for it. It was the only time they got daylight.

The above picture is the ‘door of no return’ for the Elmina Castle and the slaves had to stoop down to go through it. They said the shore line used to come right up to this castle.

It was very hard to hear how inhumanely people were treated. It was definitely the dark ages. No one with the light of Christ could have done this to animals, let alone other human beings. It reminded us of the conditions that existed when the people had become so hardened in the Book of Mormon during the wars that wiped out the Nephites (see Mormon 5:8, 16 ). There is more we heard about the slaves, but it is too horrid to relate. It was hard to tour these places, but they are shown to help us remember to never repeat it.