Fort William is a one of the physical reminders of the Transatlantic slave trade’s brutal history.
Built by the British in 1753, this fort was specifically designed for slave trading, with an auction room where humans were sold into bondage.
The fort’s layout was designed to maximise efficiency in the slave trade.
Apart from the auction room where slaves were sold, there were also dungeons in which slaves were held for three months before being shipped out.
These dungeons were cramped, and had very poorly ventilated spaces.
And inside the fort, its walls bear witness to the suffering of the millions of slaves who ever passed through it.
In total, there were 466 million slaves shipped to the fort from various parts of Africa, with 381,000 successfully sold into bondage.
In an interview with GhanaWeb’s Etsey Atisu, Theresa, the tour guide at the Fort William, said that the fort’s history is marked by deception, violence, and exploitation.
“Parents were tricked into bringing their stubborn children to be ‘taken care of,’ only to be sold into slavery. Others were forcibly captured from neighbouring countries, including Chad, Mali, and Burkina Faso, and also children from the town,” she indicated.
Theresa also shared that the conditions within the fort were inhumane.
“Female slaves had their bath twice in the month, while the men had their bath once in the month. The women were raped on plantations by their slave masters,” Theresa explained.
She further said that Fort William had a dungeon for children between the ages of 15 to 25 years and 10 to 12 years.
“These children had no hole for ventilation in their dungeon because they were tagged stubborn, and the door of their dungeon was a metal. Once a while, 10 of them are brought out into the sun to take fresh air in chains and are taken back after 10 minutes,” she narrated.
She also stated that the slaves who were rejected during auction were allowed to return to their respective towns, while those who could not return remained in the town of Anomabo with their merchants.
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