[Sherman Logan]

Your ancestors probably came across the ocean in steerage, crammed into dim spaces with smelly strangers for weeks at a time, fighting off rats and scurvy. Or they may have come in slave ships against their will, where they had a truly excellent chance of dying.

Should be noted that the immigrant ships also had a high death rate, quite possibly as high or even higher than those on the slave ships.

The slaver captains, after all, had a financial incentive to keep slave alive. The immigrant ship operators didn't have an incentive to minimize deaths. The "coffin ships" of the Potato Famine often had death rates over 30%.

[null and void]

Good point, and I didn’t know that little factoid.

It doesn’t even require any particular malice or neglect or extra care on the parts of the respective captains. The slavers started with cargoes of healthy able-bodied young men and women; the coffin ships, the very young, the elderly, the sickly and half-starved refugees yearning to breathe free.

[fatnotlazy]

These days, the conditions for most airline passengers are akin to steerage on an immigrant ship. The aviation industry has gone out of its way to make flying as miserable as possible. And it really doesn't matter if you fly first class or pay extra for a roomier seat in the front of the plane. Conditions aren't that much better. Add to that rude flight attendants and ticketing agents plus airport security, and flying is no picnic.

Back in the 1970s when I first started working, I flew everywhere. Back then, even coach wasn't bad. Today, I'm retired on a fixed income, so I can't afford to travel like I used to. But even if I could afford it, I'm reluctant to fly. Just so not worth it.

[Drew68]

The slaver captains, after all, had a financial incentive to keep slave alive.

Actually, to veer from the subject of this thread for a bit, slavers only needed about 25% of their cargo to survive to pay for the trip and turn a profit. This gave birth to a controversial theory; that black Americans excelled at sports because only the physically strongest of them survived to pass on their genes.