The Door of No Return

The Door of No Return

These are pics from the former slave house at Goree Island - an island 900 m long by 350 meters wide. Goree Island was a key foothold during the the 300 or so years of slave trade bc of it's location which made it convenient to ship slaves to various parts of the world. This was one of I believe 28 slavehouses that used to be on the island. What a sobering experience as our guide shared the horrific history of slavery!

Sharing here just a smidgen of what what we learned that day.

Portugual, Dutch, British, & French each at one point controlled Goree Island.

There once was a yellow fever epidemic that killed 21 out of 24 doctors on the island.

The slave port had a a door known as the "Door of no Return" bc once a slave passed thru' that door they would never come back. From that door they boarded slave ships to be sold in other countries. Also, slave traders wouldn't risk sick slaves for fear of the spread of disease so they would throw anyone who looked sick out the door.

There were cells for men, women & children.

Men needed to be 140 lbs to cross the ocean.

Women's worth was determined by their virginity - or not - and they were placed in different cells depending on this.

If a slave girl got pregnant with a white man's baby she was set free and the baby would become an upper class citizen.

The Portuguese were the first to begin slavery & the last to end it.

I could go on & on. These were just a few of many things we learned. The girls have long journal entries on this part of our trip. It is difficult to imagine what it must have been like to have been a slave but I think bc we visited here we all have a much better understanding of how horrific it was that would be difficult to gain any other way - Joyce

A view of Goree Island from the ferry we took over there.