OYE
irD
meant to be '·&eJlDClS
forced to for aDd moo
oot fit for animals. 1b t Is by many bundreds of
tbo�DdS of our ancesto re r . vaged by
d1Ie�, lying fo days In tbeir 0 excrem t,
dyiDg In caWe .
y tile prlso fo hum . 'Ib t
the me-DIDI of the cbaiDs, the , aDd the
fearful te m staDdlDg th lighted matches t
the C8DllOll. For ultimately they that e ere
more thaD aDlmals, that the secret conve of
tile baracoons and lower dec could tum into
rebellion at any mom t. So in all prisons, an .
lDordlnate amount of the captors' time was speIlI in
ply atchinl and guarding agains any Blac
movement to ani freedom. And the We of
sano guards, loe eel in a captivity parallel with
ir own, was often fWed with sheer wretchedness.
In early truggles on the ships in the coastal
aters African captives used every available
tool to e for freedom. Sometim they even
bro e their chains and formed them into
eapoos. ear the end of the _ venteeth century,
off the sbores of the Gulf of Guinea here th castle
of Elm1Da stood, a Dutch captain underestimated
the power of the Will of his Black captives. He fished
up an anchor left beblDd by another ship, and put it
down In the bold wbere the male Africans ere
being d. 1be anchor became a sIgnal aD(I a
forge. A Dutch writer aDd a participant in the slave
trade, WUl1am Bosman, wrote:
(them ) unkDo to any of the sbip's ere ,
possessed tbemselv of a hammer; with which, in
time, they b all their fetters in p ee
ancbor; after tb1s they came above
our men; me of bom they
y wounded., and ould certainly have
1
W e join /ith men of good will every­
where in pledging our support to a
orld based u�n five ssential human
freedoms. Freedom of speech and
expression. Freedom of every person to
worship God in his own way. Freedom
from want. Freedom from fear. And
-freedom of equal opportunity.
D TE
TO IAL
SECO D