od that captains could get their hands on. The owners of the ships had to keep the slaves in pretty good shape to get top dollar for them. The white deck hands would bring the slaves on deck and go through and exercise they called “dance.” The men were forced to jump until the shackles broke they skin on their ankles. The women and children who were not shackled could dance to a rhythm. Slaves enjoyed their exercise because it was the only time they were aloud to move around. If the slaves refused to dance they were beaten with whips. The whips were called “cat-o-nine-tails” they were made up of nine cords covered with tar; each cord had a knot at the end. When bad weather hit it became very rough for the slaves. The slaves were not aloud to come up on the deck. This is where disease and filth ran through the slaves. In conclusion, slavery although was a big part of the rise of this country. It was looking back, one of the most terrible things done by humans to other humans. Learning from our mistakes took a long time. The Civil War was the point in our history where everyone realized that you could not treat people like animals. That everyone is looked upon as equals....
