Why was it so hot on slaveships?

Answer 1

You're not familiar with how to make compost heaps are you?

Bear with me, I am ignorant about specific chemistry I only know basic, so I have absolutely no clue why compost heaps light on fire but, here goes.

The way you make compost, is that you gather dry leaves, twigs, and lots upon lots of poop, human or animal, and pile the leaves and twigs on top of the poop. For chemical reasons I do not understand, eventually, the compost will catch on fire. In slave ships, because no one was allowed to go to the bathroom, people just took a dump right where they were, hence, the sheer amount of fecal matter in there, with a lot of oxygen cut off, plus the wood, made it so that not just the tightly packed human bodies, but the feces were acting as "compost" and generating heat.

By the way, many of the people who owned slave ships were Portuguese and American Jews. Thought I'd let you know that.

Answer 2

there was no air conditioning.