The Middle Passage refers to the forced transportation of African people from Africa to the New World as part of the Atlantic slave trade^[1] and was the middle portion of the triangular trade voyage. Ships left Europe for African markets, where their goods were sold or traded for prisoners and kidnapped victims on the African coast. Traders then sailed to the Americas and Caribbean, where the Africans were sold or traded for goods for European markets, which were then returned to Europe. The European powers Portugal, England, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Brandenburg, as well as traders from Brazil and North America, all took part in this trade. The story is set in 1830 and tells of a freed slave named Rutherford Calhoun. ... We dont have an article called The Middle Passage Start this article Search for The Middle Passage in. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... Frontispiece of Peter Martyr dAnghieras De orbe novo (On the New World). Carte dAmérique, Guillaume Delisle, 1722. ... The Atlantic slave trade, also known as the transatlantic slave trade, was the trade of African people supplied to the colonies of the New World that occurred in and around the Atlantic Ocean. ... An historic example of three way trade in the North Atlantic Triangular trade is a historical term indicating trade between three ports or regions. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... World map showing the Americas CIA political map of the Americas in an equal-area projection The Americas are the lands of the New World, consisting of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions. ... West Indies redirects here. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... For the similarly spelled Brandenberg, see Brandenberg (Austria) or Brandenburg (disambiguation) Location Coordinates , , Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DE4 Capital Potsdam Minister-President Matthias Platzeck (SPD) Governing parties SPD / CDU Votes in Bundesrat 4 (of 69) Basic statistics Area  29,479 km² (11,382... North American redirects here. ...

Journey

The Middle Passage took from one to six months depending on weather conditions.

African kings, warlords and private kidnappers sold captives to Europeans who held several coastal forts. The captives were usually force-marched to these ports along the western coast of Africa, where they were held for sale to the European or American slave traders in the barracoons. Typical slave ships contained several hundred slaves with about thirty crew members. The male captives were normally chained together in pairs to save space; right leg to the next man's left leg — while the women and children may have had somewhat more room. The captives were fed beans, corn, yams, rice, and palm oil. Slaves were fed one meal a day with water, but if food was scarce, slaveholders would get priority over the slaves. Sometimes captives were allowed to move around during the day, but many ships kept the shackles on throughout the arduous journey.

Most contemporary historians estimate that between 9.4 and 12 million Africans arrived in the New World.^[2][3] Disease and starvation due to the length of the passage were the main contributors to the death toll with amoebic dysentery and scurvy causing the majority of deaths. Additionally, outbreaks of smallpox, syphilis, malaria, measles, and other diseases spread rapidly in the close-quarter compartments. The number of dead increased with the length of the voyage, since the incidence of dysentery and of scurvy increased with longer stints at sea as the quality and amount of food and water diminished with every passing day. In addition to physical sickness, many slaves became too depressed to eat or function efficiently because of the loss of freedom, family, security, and their own humanity. This often led to worse treatment, like force-feeding or lashings. Some even committed suicide by jumping over board before they arrived in the New World. Dysentery is an illness involving severe diarrhea that is often associated with blood in the feces. ... Scurvy (N.Lat. ...

For two hundred years, 1440–1640, Portugal had a quasi-monopoly on the export of slaves from Africa. During the eighteenth century however, when the slave trade accounted for the transport of about 6 million Africans, Britain was responsible for almost 2.5 million of them.^[4]

See also

• Atlantic slave trade
• European colonization of the Americas
• History of Africa
• Maafa
• Slave ship
• Triangular trade

The Atlantic slave trade, also known as the transatlantic slave trade, was the trade of African people supplied to the colonies of the New World that occurred in and around the Atlantic Ocean. ... Territories in the Americas colonized or claimed by a European great power in 1750. ... The History of Africa begins from the emergence of modern human beings to its current state as a politically developing continent. ... The word Maafa (also known as the African Holocaust or Holocaust of Enslavement) is derived from a Kiswahili word meaning disaster, terrible occurrence or great tragedy. ... Slave ships were cargo boats specially converted for the purpose of transporting slaves, especially newly captured African slaves. ... An historic example of three way trade in the North Atlantic Triangular trade is a historical term indicating trade between three ports or regions. ...

References

• Faragher, John Mack. Out of many. Pearson Prentice Hall. 2006: New Jersey.

Notes