The Mortality Rate During The Voyages Of The Atlantic Slave Trade Varied

The conditions on the Middle Passage were horrible. The space allotted to each slave was often too small to move the shoulders and the neck and legs were chained down. Many slaves died on the voyage and never made it out of the hull of the slave ships.

African slaves were shipped to the West Indies and America as part of the Triangular Trade. Many slaves died on the voyage due to the ghastly conditions that accompanied the Middle Passage and others committed suicide. Portugal held a near monopoly on the export of African slaves for a period of about 200 years from the early 14-1600s. The peak years of the slave trade were during the 16th and 17th century, but Africans were forced across the Atlantic for an astonishing timeframe of around 400 years.

The largest share of African slaves were sent to Brazil during the Atlantic Slave trade.

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 Trans-Atlantic slave trade was “responsible for the forced migration of between 12 - 15 million people from Africa to the Western Hemisphere from the middle of the 15th century to the end of the 19th century.” (Edser). Slaves from Africa, that were transported through the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, were captured or purchased, held in confinement for months, and then shipped on large cargo vessels, where they ran the risk of acquiring multiple diseases, scurvy, and malnutrition. These people were not treated like humans, but instead animals. They were naked, shackled together with chains, stored on the floors with little to no room to move because of the stuffed conditions. With these horrid conditions, which lasted a few months, there would be no surprise that when their freedom became lessened, their natural reaction was to

Natives on the other hand were very difficult to enslave because many died due to diseases and lack of immunity to them and they were very knowledgeable with the surrounding terrain if they were to ever escape. To comply with the demand for cultivation of cash crops, a shipping route that imported Africans to the new world was the famous “horrendous six-to eight- week long ocean voyage known as the Middle Passage” (Goldfield, The American Jorney, 55). The European powers traded these slaves for guns, rum and other textiles. But in order to get these slaves, Africans kidnapped and traded other Africans for these resources. The African kingdom traded slaves who have done punishable crimes in their country for valuable resources that could help protect the kingdom from other rulers in Africa. Once the Africans were enslaved, they now begin their long journey to the New World on the compacted ships. Similar to indentured servants on their long voyage to the New World, the living conditions for the slaves on board were disgusting and unimaginable, they lived in their own filth struggling to barely survive the week long passages and slaves were often tightly packed below the deck. The slaves who did survive were then bought and sold just like cattle, often being separated from loved ones

The Atlantic Slave Trade lasted between 1450 and 1750 and drastically impacted the lives of both European and African people. During this time, the Europeans, such as the British, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Dutch, traveled to Africa in search of labor workers. In total, over twelve million slaves were taken, mainly because they workers to make money, but it also had to do with their race, religion – as they were not Christian – and to civilize them because the Europeans did not believe that they were humans. Due to these European beliefs, the Europeans saw themselves as the most powerful group and viewed slave trade as a business. The Africans, on the other hand, had a harder time transitioning into slavery. Many of them were taken from their homes and forced to accept a new life working as a slave. These events did not come without many sacrifices from the African people. One of the major reasons the slave trade was so expansive is due to the low life expectancy of the slaves after their capture. While the Europeans believed that they were helping the African culture, as well as themselves, the African society as a whole suffered the most.

In the Middle Passage, Africans were captured and sold by other Africans of their native land. They were then packed on a ship as if they were cargo. The conditions on that ship were unsanitary and of poor life quality, that many were struck with various illnesses. When many of the slaves aboard felt their growing despair, they attempted to resist their oppression by ending their lives so that they may mess with the slave business. This is evident in The Making of African American, pg. 63, where we read that:

To really show the horrendous conditions that the slaves endured, the author includes a 1787 replication drawing of the slave ship Brooks. Built in 1781 with a lower deck intended to accommodate 294 slaves, giving each slave a space comparable to the size of a coffin. Adult males were allocated a space six feet long and fifteen inches wide and allowing even less space for adult women, boys, and girls. The height of the same area was just five feet, and did not include any toilet facilities for the slaves. In most cases, the captains would load double the number of slaves their ships were designed for leading to even worse conditions onboard with more mouths to feed but not enough provisions to compensate. Those slaves who died during the journey through the Middle Passage were simply thrown overboard, where their bodies were eaten by ravenous sharks.

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

Around the 20 million people who were taken from their homes and sold into slavery, half didn't make it to the African coast, most of those people dying along the way. The captives were about to embark on the infamous Middle passage. Then the first leg of the voyage carried a cargo that often included iron, cloth, brandy, firearms, and gunpowder. They landed on the Africa’s slave coast and the cargo and stuff was traded for Africans. Africans who had made the Middle Passage to the plantations of the New World did not return to their land to tell what happened to those people who suddenly disappeared. Sometimes the Africans were told by white men that they were to work on the field, But they didn’t believe it because it took barely any time

Due to the extreme life threatening conditions on the ships many of the slaves did not make it to the Americas. Many of them suffered mental and physiological problems. These problems that were brought over into the Americas because of depression and much more. All stemming from the fact that you have been taken from the only life you knew and unable to do anything about it. So as a result many committed suicide on the trips by jumping off board or refusing to eat the scraps given. In many written accounts of life on the slave ships describe the horrible conditions they were in. Many of the ships tightly packed their slaves exceeding the limit. It has been recorded many times with visual diagrams showing how they packed the slaves onto the ships. So, there were diseases all throughout the ship and the smell was unbearable. This contributed to the high mortality rate amongst Africans once they arrived in the Americas. Little physical activity on the ships involved the slaves on top deck dancing so they could keep their strength and be prepared for auction. Many times the slaves tried to overtake the ship in hopes of sailing back to Africa. It was unsuccessful because of their lack of skill in sailing and the fact that they were unequipped to overthrow the Europeans on the ship. This ultimate

The Atlantic Slave Trade was the largest migration over the ocean, which promoted the transportation of goods and people among different continents. During this terrifying experience about twelve million Africans were brought to the New World against their will to perform backbreaking labor under dreadful conditions. After being caught, Africans were sold to European traders in slave markets on the west coast of Africa. These African traders sold the slaves for goods, such as guns, alcohol, textiles, and other manufactured goods unavailable in Africa. Theses slaves were

Before becoming a slave African Americans were first kidnapped from their homes. The kidnapping process was fast. There was hardly any chance given to scream or fight back against the kidnapper. Their journey was “to travel, sometimes by land, sometimes by water, through different countries and various nations” (Pearsons, 2011, 149). The slaves transatlantic voyage was called the “middle passage” (Berkin, Cherny, Gormly, Miller, 2013, 82). This middle passage was “a nightmare of death, disease, suicide, and sometimes mutiny” (Berkin, Cherny, Gormly, Miller, 2013, 82). The waters near West Africa were known as the “white man’s grave” because so many white officers and crews of the slave ships died because of diseases and were buried at sea (Berkin, Cherny, Gormly, Miller, 2013, 82). While the death toll of the crew was great in numbers. The deaths of the black slaves aboard were far greater. These slave ships were hotbeds for many diseases such as “scurvy, yellow fever, malaria, dysentery, small pox, measles and typhus” (Berkin, Cherny, Gormly, Miller, 2013, 83). A crewman recorded anywhere from eight to ten slaves were dead every

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