From the 16th century to the 19th century, millions of African men, women, and children forced to voyage aboard a ship for approximately two months only to become a slave to the European people. This catastrophic event known as the Middle Passage, which not only spread the Africans across the world, but also transmitted raw materials and manufactured goods. The voyage began from Europe to Africa then Africa to the Americans. The main countries that precipitated in this exchange included Portugal, England, France, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Brazil, Brandenburg, the Caribbean, and the Americans Also known as the Atlantic slave trade, the men and women separated, with the women located toward the stern and left unchained while the men chained and forced to lie shoulder to shoulder and located toward the vessels’ bow. The conditions on the slave ships were revolting and appalling due to the condense spacing of several slaves being on one ship, foul and putrid air, seasickness, and the heat was oppressive. These suffocating conditions and lack of sanitation formed fatal diseases. The death rate of the slave ships reached about 25% in the seventeenth century due to various diseases, including smallpox, syphilis, fever, measles, scurvy, and dysentery. The combination of disease and inadequate food lead the slaves …show more content…
The Africans culture, traditions, and lifestyle would have remained in Africa and as well the people. The United States population wouldn’t contain so many African Americans as it does now nor would it be as diverse or economically successful. The continent, Africa itself wouldn’t be in poverty, war, and wouldn’t be as dysfunctional. If given the chance, the nation would be in control, successful, and well developed as the countries that are present today. The United States wouldn’t have to representation as the land of the
It took place across the Atlantic Ocean from the 15th to the 19th centuries. It was a trade of human beings from African societies who were shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. About 1.8 million people died during the Atlantic Slave Trade due to harsh conditions on the ship. Furthermore, many others perished during the process of capture and transport to the African coast done by the middle men. Slaves were kept in dungeon fortresses and suffered horrid living conditions while waiting to be sent out to sea on boats headed for America. Both on the forts and the ships, they were kept in dirty, dark rooms with little moving space and almost no food and drink. They were usually kept in chains and forced to lie on their backs. The transatlantic slave trade is sometimes known as the "Triangular Trade" because it was trade among three ports or regions. The voyages were from Europe to Africa, from Africa to the Americas, and from the Americas back to Europe. The raw materials and natural resources like rice, tobacco, cotton and sugar that were found in the Americas were brought to Europe. Europe then brought manufactured products such as cloth, beads and guns to Africa in exchange for slaves who were brought to the Americas. This voyage impacted the world. Africa became a permanent part of the interacting Atlantic world and millions of people were
The foods that were brought back to the Old World such as, potatoes and corn proved a vital and necessary resource to the Europeans. Another short-term effect of the Columbian exchange was the migration of African slaves to the Americas. The majority of the Africans that were enslaved were caught in village raids or were war captives. They were caught by other Africans and sold to the European slave traders for money and other prized possessions. For slaves, the voyage known as the Middle Passage was a terrifying and perilous journey, with a death rate potentially as high as 50%.
Meanwhile in the Americas, European empires were growing, and they realized that they needed a more efficient work force. They had tried using Native Americans, but they usually died from European diseases. Europeans couldn’t work because of the diseases that the tropical climate gave them. It seemed like Africans would be the perfect solution to their problems. They were used to the tropical climate and immune to its diseases, had experience in agriculture, and there was already a market for them. This introduced the slave trade to North America, and in 1619 the first New World slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia. Most of the earlier slaves to journey the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade were from Windward Coast and Senegambia (Present-day Mauritania), but later expanded all along the coast of Africa. The Atlantic Slave Trade was also given the name “Middle Passage”, since it was the middle leg in the Triangular trade.
The Slave Ship by Marcus Rediker is a great fiction novel that describes the horrifying experiences of Africans, seamen, and captains on their journey through the Middle Passage. The Middle Passage marked the water way in the Atlantic Ocean between Africa and the Americas. The use of slaves provided a great economy for the European countries due to the fact that these African slaves provided free labor while cultivating sugar cane in the Caribbean and America. Rediker describes the slave migration by saying, “There exists no account of the mechanism for history’s greatest forced migration, which was in many ways the key to an entire phase of globalization” (10). This tells us that African enslavement to the Americas causes a complete
: The middle passage was a part of the Triangle Trade Africans was transported to the Americas, where they were traded for sugar and tobacco. Middle segment of the forced journey that slaves made from Africa to America throughout the 1600's; it consisted of the dangerous trip across the Atlantic Ocean; many slaves perished on this segment of the journey.
Both colored and whites have experienced the Middle Passage in completely different ways. Document B, written by a slave ship captain, describe the hardships that he and his crew had to face. He has zero sympathy for any of the colored people on the ship, saying “There happened such a sickening and mortality among my poor men and Negroes.” Thomas Phillip was quite upset of how much money he way losing due to the death rate of the slaves. He also explains that after all of his hard work to care and feed them, he has to endure twice the misery and pain that the slaves do. I believe he experienced the Middle Passage with elevated narcissism and dislike of colored
Historically, the Second Middle Passage refers to the era of time and action of which slaves were traded and sold between U.S. states. This is referred to as the Second Middle Passage as the first one was quite similar to it-- the original Middle Passage refers to the time and process in which slaves were first brought to the U.S. from Africa and even the West Indies. Up until December 18, 1865, when the law abolishing slavery in the U.S. was adopted, slavery remained a viable means of torture that would allow free labor and money for Southern Colonists. For a portion of time, the U.S. relied on the backs of slaves to carry on their whole production processes and maintain economic balance. Overall, the Second Middle Passage was called so due to the majority of similarities between that era and the original Middle Passage, such as the same brutal process in which slaves were attained, the auctioning of slaves, and the number of slaves traded and sold within the domestic slave trade statistics.
The Middle Passage is an event in history that is forgotten and there recognition needs to be on those affected by this event. The Middle Passage was a slave trade that took place between 1450 and 1860. This was an occurrence that was not seen cruel at the time. Slaves were under awful condition and treated poorly. When they were sent on a ship, the conditions for them consisted of the slaves chained close together while standing. If they did not want to eat or did not eat when they were commanded to eat, they were violently abused. Many slaves lost their lives on these voyages and many became sick. The treatment of the slaves were unspeakable. Those in charge of the slaves during the voyages had no respect for the slaves’ needs and drained
The Middle Passage, the second, or middle, leg in the triangular trading routes linking America, Africa, and Europe, was the name for the voyage of the slaves across the Atlantic Ocean. America was the popular destination for people selling slaves because they were sold for up to thirty times the price of the slaves sold in Africa. The higher amount of money made by selling the slaves in America caused a number of crammed vessels full of African-American men, women, and children to head through the Ocean towards America. The conditions on the ships were horrible for the slaves. The slaves were chained to the decks by their necks and legs, and the enslaved people were so packed that they could not even turn around. Death of many of the slaves
The Middle Passage was a triangular route that was frequently used by many European nations who engaged in the Atlantic slave trade of millions of Africans. One such African slave was a man by the name of Olaudah Equiano, who 's autobiography spoke of the mortality rate on slave ships, what he and his fellow slaves thought of their European captors, and what their captors thought of them.
“The Slave Ship: A Human History” written by Marcus Rediker describes the horrifying experiences of Africans, and captains, and ship crewmen on their journey through the Middle Passage, the water way in the Atlantic Ocean between Africa and the Americas. The use of slaves to cultivate crops in the Caribbean and America offered a great economy for the European countries by providing “free” labor and provided immense wealth for the Europeans. Rediker describes the slave migration by saying, “There exists no account of the mechanism for history’s greatest forced migration, which was in many ways the key to an entire phase of globalization” (10). African enslavement to the Americas is the most prominent reason for a complete shift in the
Though the Natives were treated badly, they were soon saved by Bartolome de Las Casas, who persuaded the Spanish king to stop enslaving the Native Americans, instead use Africans as their slaves. This protest from Las Casas forever changed the course of history. After Las Casas’ protest was accepted, enslaved Africans were brought to the Americas through the Middle Passage, which was a sea route from western Africa to the eastern part of America. Space in the ship was very compact and hot. Also, due to the number on the ship, there was little room to move, causing many people to almost suffocate to death. (Doc 5). The Europeans had to pack as many Africans they could, knowing that some Africans would perish on the journey, to reach African slave quota. The Middle Passage itself killed over 20% of the captive African slaves due to the lack of space, hygiene, and nutrition. Not only did the Middle Passage bring enslaved Africans to the Americans it also helped spread Africans across the world This process today is now called
The transition of being brought from Africa to America was called the middle passage since there what then were slaves started to understand that their status was going to be low. Their treatment since the moment they were in the ship was deplorable; they were punish to
The trade of Africans was part of Triangular trade, from Europe to Africa, Africa to the Americas, and the Americas back to Europe. The journey from Africa across the Atlantic was known as the Middle Passage. For many months, enslaved Africans were treated terribly on the voyage. Slaves were packed on top of each other into the bottom of the ship. African men wore iron chains around their wrists and legs and had little room to move. The chains and cuffs prevented revolts and escapes. Revolting slaves would be shot or drowned. Women and children were sometimes
Africans were less defenseless to numerous European ailments than Native American slaves. Starting in 861, a great part of the Caliphate was tossed into Civil War, and the Zanj accepted the open door to revolt between 869-883-1.5-2.5 million executed. After the Portuguese arrived, slaves were frequently exchanged for European products specifically firearms. The Portuguese utilized slaves on their Sugar Plantations in Sao Tome and Madeira. The Portuguese first conveyed African slaves to the New World as right on time as 1500 to take a shot at sugar estates, and they overwhelmed the early exchange. They were immediately supplanted by the Dutch in 1600 who initially foreign made slaves routinely into North America. They were supplanted by the English in the 1700s.The slave exchange produced an ever more prominent interest for slaves prompting to more wars between African tribes to keep up the request; journey from Africa to the New World. Considered the middle section of the triangular trade, also known as The Middle Passage. Slaves were payload and regarded all things considered. Frequently packed into boats and stacked on top of each other. On a few boats, they were either laid level and couldn 't sit up. Anchored together with a team of around thirty people. Ailing health, congestion, and terrible sanitation prompted to many slaves passing on before they ever arrived. Dead bodies were