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Cape Coast Castle on the coast of what is now Ghana, was used as a fortress and holding facility for male slaves before they were shipped across the Atlantic to the Americas.
Any slave at Cape Coast Castle who attempted to rebel in any way, would be thrown into this punishment cell, this was a death sentence. This tiny cave like room was originally concealed behind three thick wooden doors, only the outer one remains today. There are no windows so once the doors were closed there was no light, the slave would be shut in in the pitch dark and left there with no food and water until they died. All of the other slaves would then be assembled in the yard to witness the body being dragged out of this cell, to ensure that they understood that resistance was futile.
The bodies of slaves murdered in this way and any others that died from disease or other causes, would be taken out onto the rocks and simply thrown into the sea.
Cape Coast Castle was one of approximately 60 fortresses/castles on Ghana's west coast during the trans Atlantic slave trading days. Built in the 1400s, it was one of the main holding places for slaves being shipped to the Americas. Built by the Portugese, it was subsequently owned by the Dutch, Swedes, and English over its lifetime. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a must see for anyone visiting Ghana in West Africa.
This is the main dungeon that held male slaves at Cape Coast Castle in Ghana. The small trench in the middle of the room was the sewer line that carried human excrement to the sea. While the dungeon is presently lighted, during the slave trade days the only light and air came from a single hole near the top of a wall in the rear chamber. Embedded into the floor is the remains of some of the human excrement from 400 years of human beings being held and tortured in this place.
Cannons at Cape Coast Castle, Cape Coast Ghana. A Dutch, Swedish, and eventually British castle impeccably preserved and full of evidence of the colonial past. Under the church humans were crammed into cells, being held for months in the darkness. The survivors were sold into slavery in the Americas.
Cape Coast Castle on the coast of what is now Ghana, was used as a fortress and holding facility for African slaves before they were shipped across the Atlantic to the Americas.
Hundreds of men were crammed into this small space.
Cape Coast Castle was built by the British in 1665 and used for the transatlantic slave trade. It was originally a Swedish fort and changed hands several times before the British took the site and remained there til Ghana became a republic in 1960.
This is the entrance to the male slave dungeon, which the tour took us down into. It's every bit as horrifying as you can imagine.
Wreaths have been laid against the end wall, by visitors from the African Diaspora to commemorate their ancestors, who may have spent their last days in Africa locked in this dungeon.
Cape Coast Castle was where male slaves were held before being shipped to the Americas in the trans Atlantic slave trade. It was a brutal place and the only way out was through slavery or death. It had been owned by the Dutch, Swedes, Portugese, and British over the 400 years of its existence. The mortars and cannon balls were not so much for attacking Africans as they were for attacking Europeans, who constantly waged war with each other to control the lucrative trade in human beings.
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