St. George Castle, Elmina, Ghana

While in Elmina we visited St. George castle – a Portuguese castle built for the trade of Gold and salt in the 1400’s. Eventually the slave trade began. Women and Men were captured for slaves. In the castle lived the governor on the top level, soldiers below the governor, the missionaries on the next floor, and the slaves on the lower floor. The Castles went from the hands of the Portuguese to the Swedes, then the Danes, followed by the Dutch and then to the English. A church was located in the middle of the large courtyard. Here women were blessed before being placed in the slave quarters. Now that’s Christianity for you!!

Slaves were brought in by the hundreds and placed in mass in rooms locked up never to be let out until they were to be loaded into slave ships or die of sickness, which was rampant because of unsanitary conditions and very little food. Women saw the light of day occasionally, when brought into a courtyard for selection by the Governor for his pleasure. Soldiers also used the women. Those who would not co-operate where tied to lead cannon balls, and left in the sun to bake.Men who protested were put in the dungeon with the skullbones and cross over the top of the door. They had no light and little food and usually died within 3 days of the heat and starvation. All who died – which were many – some say over 50% - were dumped into the ocean. Our guide told us there were 12-20 million slaves that went through the slave castles. There are no exact numbers because records were poorly kept. Their destination was first to the Caribbean Islands, then later to Europe, England, and finally to America.

It was not a pretty tale in the history of the world.