鎖鏈，腳鐐，拍賣文件:從非洲到北美奴隸貿(mào)易的殘留物

鎖鏈，腳鐐，拍賣文件:從非洲到北美奴隸貿(mào)易的殘留物

Their arrival, 400 years ago next month, was recorded by English settler John Rolfe and is believed to be the first of captive Africans to reach the shores of Britain’s North American colonies.

400年前的下個月，他們的到來被英國殖民者約翰·羅爾夫記錄了下來，據(jù)說，他是第一個到達英國北美殖民地海岸的非洲俘虜。

Their long and treacherous journey across the Atlantic may have begun in Angola, historians say, believing that once they arrived, they were sold for food.

歷史學家說，他們跨越大西洋的漫長而危險的旅程可能是從安哥拉開始的，他們相信，一旦他們到達，就會被當作食物出售。

“Those African people who were on that ship were specifically sold in a trading transaction that we now recognize as something that became common during the transatlantic slave trade,” said Rebecca Nelson, assistant curator of projects at Wilberforce House Museum in the British city of Hull.

英國赫爾城威爾伯福斯博物館項目助理館長麗貝卡·納爾遜說：“在一次貿(mào)易交易中，那些在船上的非洲人被專門出售，我們現(xiàn)在認為這種交易在跨大西洋奴隸貿(mào)易中很常見。”

“There were African people in America before that date but not having been sold in the same specific way.”

“在那之前，美國也有非洲人，但沒有以同樣的方式被出售。”

Millions of African men, women and children were shipped across the Atlantic Ocean between the 16th and 19th centuries.

在16世紀到19世紀之間，數(shù)以百萬計的非洲男人、女人和兒童被運送過大西洋。

Many died in horrific conditions. Those who survived were forced into servitude and worked on plantations.

許多人死于可怕的環(huán)境。那些幸存下來的人被迫服兵役，在種植園工作。

Ahead of the 400-year anniversary, Reuters photographers visited museums in Ivory Coast, Nigeria, South Africa and Britain displaying items from the Africa to North America slave trade.

在400周年紀念日前夕，路透社的攝影記者參觀了科特迪瓦、尼日利亞、南非和英國的博物館，展示了從非洲到北美奴隸貿(mào)易的物品。

They have produced a series of pictures depicting items such as chains, shackles, neck braces, whips and documents listing auctions and the treatment of slaves as well as punishment records.

他們制作了一系列的圖片，描繪了一些物品，如鏈子、腳鐐、頸托、鞭子、列出拍賣和奴隸待遇以及懲罰記錄的文件。

A small wooden model of the “Brookes” slave ship is among the items on display at Wilberforce House, named after William Wilberforce who successfully campaigned to have the British parliament ban the slave trade in 1807. The model was used by Wilberforce during his speeches to parliament.

威爾伯福斯莊園展出的物品中包括一艘名為“布魯克斯”號奴隸船的木制小模型。威爾伯福斯莊園以威廉·威爾伯福斯命名，1807年，威廉·威爾伯福斯成功地推動英國議會禁止奴隸貿(mào)易。威爾伯福斯在國會演講時就使用了這個模型。

“By using this, he was able to show men who had never ever been to see a slave trip or had visited any docks, or warehouses or plantations themselves … how terrible the conditions for the enslaved Africans were on board these ships,” Nelson said.

納爾遜說“通過使用這個工具，他能夠向那些從未見過奴隸之旅的人展示，他們自己也從未參觀過任何碼頭、倉庫或種植園……這些船上的非洲奴隸所處的環(huán)境是多么可怕。”