Middle Passage

US IRiver Dell Regional High School

Estimated Slave Imports by Destination, 1451–1870

The Atlantic and Islamic Slave Trades

Map 2–1. The Atlantic and Islamic Slave Trades. Not until 1600 did the Atlantic slave trade reach the proportions of the Islamic slave trade. This map shows the principal sources of slaves, primary routes, and major destinations.

Atlantic Slave Trade

* Harsher in the AmericasMost were males

Believed they were stronger laborers than females

West African women did farm work

Chattel - Lost rights as human beings

Slave Colonies of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

* Crowded, unsanitary conditions * Slaves rode on planks 66” x 15”

only 20”– 25” of headroom* Males chained together in pairs

* Kept apart from women and children* High mortality rates

~One-third perish between capture and embarkation

British Slave Ship

Provisions for the Middle Passage

0Slaves fed twice per day0Poor and insufficient diet

0Vegetable pulps, stews, and fruits 0Denied meat or fish0Ten people eating from one bucket0Unwashed hands spread disease0Malnutrition, weakness, depression, death

Resistance & Revolts on Slave Ships

0Uprisings were common0Most rebellions before sailing0Some preferred death to bondage0Justification for harsh treatment by

slavers

Sanitation, Disease, and Death

Astronomically high before 1750* Poor sanitation

No germ theory prior to early 20th centuryMalaria, yellow fever, smallpox, dysentery

After 1750* Faster ships* Hygiene and diet better understood* Early forms of smallpox vaccinations

Landing and Sale

Pre-saleBathed and exercisedOiled bodies to conceal blemishes and bruises

19th c. Engraving- Inspections