Middle Passage

Slave ship model displayed at the National Museum of American History (Smithsonian Institution)

The Middle Passage the part of the Atlantic slave trade where African slaves were brought to the Americas on slave ships. Millions of African people were shipped to the Americas over the Middle Passage.^[1]

Enslaved people were treated so badly on the slave ships that about 15% of them died during the Middle Passage. Even more were killed before they left Africa, when slave traders were trying to kidnap them and force them onto the slave ships.^[2] Historians think that up to two million African people died during the Middle Passage.^[3] However, somewhere between 9.4 million and 12 million African people survived the Middle Passage, and arrived in the Americas as slaves.^[4][5]

The triangular trade

The transatlantic trade of African people had three different parts. Because of this, it was called "the triangular trade." The Middle Passage got its name because it was the middle part of the triangular trade. The three parts of the Atlantic slave trade were:^[6][7]

(1) Europe to Africa

Ships brought weapons, gunpowder, cloth, rum, and manufactured goods from Europe to Africa. In Africa, these things were traded for African people who had been bought as slaves or kidnapped.

(2) Africa to the Americas (the Middle Passage)

Enslaved African people were brought to the Americas on slave ships. There they were sold as slaves, or traded for raw materials like sugar, tobacco, and cotton, which other enslaved people had made.

(3) The Americas to Europe

These raw materials would be sent to Europe, where they were used to make things. Then the triangular trade would start all over again. For example, cotton would be used to make cloth. That cloth could then be sent to Africa to trade for more enslaved people.

The enslaved peoples' journey

Diagram of a slave ship from the Atlantic slave trade, called the "Brookes" slave ship. (From an Abstract of Evidence delivered before a select committee of the House of Commons in 1790 and 1791.)

After the kidnapped, enslaved African people were usually forcibly marched to forts along the coast of western Africa. There they were sold to European and American human traffickers. They might have to wait in these forts, which were like prisons, for months before slave ships arrived.^[8][7]

Enslaved people were then packed onto the slave ships. Often, they were packed together as closely as possible.^[9] (The famous drawing on the right shows how closely enslaved people were packed together on some slave ships.) Enslaved men were often chained together at the ankles.^[9] Sometimes, slaves were allowed to move around during the day, but many ships kept enslaved people chained up for the entire trip.^[10]

Sailing through the Middle Passage could take anywhere from one to six months, depending on the weather.^[6] Over time, human trafficking ships got better at making the trip more quickly. In the early 16th century, the average trip took a few months. However, by the 19th century, many slave ships crossed the Middle Passage in fewer than six weeks.^[11]

Living conditions

The Enslaved people were treated barbarically and wickedly during the Middle Passage. Slaves were not seen as human. They were thought of as "cargo" or "goods" - commodities rather than innocent people - to be bought and sold, and not respected and cared about, they would be ignored until slavery was abolished ^[12][8]

Enslaved people were starved during the Middle Passage. At "best", the enslavers fed enslaved people beans, corn, yams, rice, and palm oil.^[13] However, enslaved African people were not always fed every day. If there was not enough food for the sailors (human traffickers) and the slaves, the enslavers would eat first, and the enslaved might not get any food.^[13] On some slave ships, slaves who looked sick were not given any food.^[13] Many enslaved people died from starvation and dehydration (not having enough water) during the Middle Passage.^[9]

The enslaved peoples' living conditions on the slave ships were horrific. Diseases spread very quickly because the enslaved people were so crowded together, and because there was no sanitation.^[12] The most common diseases were dysentery, scurvy, smallpox, syphilis, and measles.^[12] Many enslaved African people were killed by disease during the Middle Passage. On longer trips, even more enslaved people died, because there was less food and water (this made dysentery and scurvy more common).^[12] Also, many slaves became too depressed to eat.^[13]

Slaves were often tortured as punishment if they did not follow the human traffickers' orders or if they seemed disobedient in any way. For example, enslaved people who were too depressed or sick to eat might be beaten or whipped.^[13] The worst forms of torture were for enslaved people who tried to rebel (fight back). For example, one slave ship captain punished an enslaved person who tried to rebel, by murdering him; then he forced two other slaves to eat his heart and liver.^[13]

Enslaved women and enslaved children were often raped or sexually abused by the sailors.^[9]

Participants

Many different people participated in the Middle Passage and the triangular trade.

World powers

The countries that controlled most of the slave trade were European and Asian countries that were very powerful at the time. These countries included:^[7][8]

• Spain
• France
• The Netherlands
• Denmark
• Sweden
• Brandenburg (now a state of Germany)

Slave traders in North America, Brazil, and the Caribbean also took part in the slave trade.

Different countries were more powerful in the slave trade at different times. For example, for two hundred years, from 1440–1640, Portugal controlled most of the slave trade. However, over time, the balance of power in Europe changed. By the 18th century, the British Empire was much more powerful. During the 18th century, when 6 million Africans were brought over the Middle Passage, British slavers carried almost 2.5 million of them.^[14]

Africans

Most of the African slaves came from eight different areas:^[15]

• Senegambia (now Senegal and Gambia);
• Upper Guinea;
• Windward Coast (now the Ivory Coast);
• Gold Coast (now Ghana);
• Bight of Benin;
• Bight of Biafra, off the western coast of Africa;
• West Central Africa and;
• Southeastern Africa

Slave traders

The slave trade was very profitable for slave traders. By the late 18th century, a strong male slave could be sold for about $600 to $1500 (which is about $9,000 to $15,000 in United States dollars today).^[15] Because of this, kidnapping people in Africa and selling them into slavery became more and more popular. Historians think that African warlords, kings, and private kidnappers - Europeans, Americans, and Africans alike - all participated in kidnapping people into slavery.^[15]

Photo gallery

• 
  The Slave Trade (Slaves on the West coast of Africa) by Auguste François Biard
• 
  Plan of the slave ship Brookes, showing how tightly slaves were packed into the ship
• 
  Illustration of how crowded it was on many slave ships
• 
  Drawing of a large, four-level slave ship
• 
  Painting of dead and dying slaves being thrown into the sea, by J.M.W. Turner

Related pages

• Atlantic slave trade

Other websites

• The Middle Passage Archived 2016-01-13 at the Wayback Machine from DiscoveringBristol.org.uk (simple English)
• Journals from people on slave ships Archived 2016-01-06 at the Wayback Machine from DiscoveringBristol.org.uk (may not be simple English)
• Pictures of slave ships and the slave trade from History.com
• "The Middle Passage". Centre for Informatics and Systems of University of Coimbra/Fundação Cupertino de Miranda. 2021. Retrieved May 3, 2021. Webpage that presents a series of digital artefacts that allows users to get a deeper understanding of the transatlantic slave trade and its magnitude.

References

1. McKissack, Patricia; McKissack, Fredrick (October 15, 1995). The Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. Square Fish. p. 109. ISBN 978-0805042597.
2. Mancke, Elizabeth; Shammas, Carole (2005). The Creation of the British Atlantic World. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 30-31. ISBN 978-0801880391.
3. Rosenbaum, Alan S. (December 30, 2008). Is the Holocaust Unique? Perspectives on Comparative Genocide. Westview Press. ISBN 978-0813344065.
4. Eltis, David; Richardson, David (2002). "The Numbers Game". In Northrup, David (ed.). The Atlantic Slave Trade (2 ed.). Houghton Mifflin Co. ISBN 9780618643561.
5. Davidson, Basil (1961). The African Slave Trade. Times/Random House. p. 95. ISBN 9780852557983.
6. Walker, Theodore (May 10, 2004). Mothership Connections: A Black Atlantic Synthesis of Neoclassical Metaphysics and Black Theology. SUNY Press. p. 10. ISBN 0-7914-6089-4.
7. "Transatlantic Slave Trade". UNESCO Culture. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). 2016. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
8. Cottman, Michael H. (February 7, 1999). "The Ghosts of the Henrietta Marie". Washington Post. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
9. "Life on board slave ships". International Slavery Museum. National Museums Liverpool. 2016. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
10. White, Deborah Gray; Bay, Mia; Martin, Jr., Waldo E. (2012). Freedom on My Mind: A History of African Americans with Documents, Vol. 1: To 1885. Bedford/St. Martin’s. ISBN 978-0312648831.
11. Eltis, David (October 28, 1999). The Rise of African Slavery in the Americas. Cambridge University Press. pp. 156–157. ISBN 978-0521655484.
12. Dr. Stuart Anderson, Associate Dean of Studies, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (October 24, 2011). The Great Days of Sail: Slavery, Ships and Sickness (Speech). Museum of London (Lecture). Retrieved January 28, 2016.
13. Rediker, Marcus (2008). The Slave Ship: A Human History. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0143114253.
14. Boddy-Evans, Alistair (September 30, 2015). "The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade". About Education. Archived from the original on April 12, 2014. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
15. Pelley, Scott (November 1, 2005). "The Slave Ship". CBS News. CBS Interactive, Inc. Retrieved January 29, 2016.