Health Issues Pre-Voyage

British slave ship captains were very cautious in negotiating for healthy captives when they arrived on the West African coast, as selecting slaves to be transported across the Atlantic was an investment, one that could lead to profit or catastrophe for their business. A captive who died on the voyage meant lost profits, as the original payment was wasted, a spot for a healthier slave had been occupied, and the possibility of selling that slave was now off the table. Selecting slaves who could endure the intense, lengthy oceanic journey as well as withstand the intense labor they would be forced into when they arrived in the Americas was crucial for ship captains. 

Medical examinations were often conducted as a consequence, but the extensive waiting period of slaves held in captivity on the coast resulted in slaves receiving poor healthcare, if they received any at all. Examinations included questions about height, weight, and age, and focused on factors such as a person’s strength, mobility, and oral health; physicians and  examiners would make captives jump, stretch their limbs, and open their mouths to locate unhealthy gums or missing teeth. Additionally, examiners often degradingly inspected the reproductive organs and systems of slaves in attempts to determine fertility likelihoods. There was no regard for privacy or human dignity, and such examinations were humiliating and dehumanizing for captives. 

Before the actual journey through the Middle Passage, captives experienced serious psychological trauma, resulting from being kidnapped and forcibly separated from their families; being abused, raped, or beaten by captors; experiencing malnourishment and starvation; and being chained and bound tightly with limited relief. Such intense moments likely contributed to a degradation in the general physical and mental well-being of many slaves, which led to decreases in immunity, and thus increased the likelihood of contracting and suffering severely from infectious diseases.