What did they trade in the Middle Passage?
It was the second of three stages of the so-called triangular trade, in which arms, textiles, and wine were shipped from Europe to Africa, enslaved people from Africa to the Americas, and sugar and coffee from the Americas to Europe.
What did the Europeans trade for slaves?
Africans were either captured in warring raids or kidnapped and taken to the port by African slave traders. There they were exchanged for iron, guns, gunpowder, mirrors, knives, cloth, and beads brought by boat from Europe. When Europeans arrived along the West African coast, slavery already existed on the continent.
What was the middle passage in the Columbian Exchange?
The trip from Africa to the Americas was called the Middle Passage. In the Middle Passage hundreds of slaves were packed tightly into ships. Conditions were horrible. Diseases spread in the small spaces, and as many as 20% of Africans died before even arriving in the Americas.
What goods were traded for African slaves?
It was the second of three stages of the so-called triangular trade, in which arms, textiles, and wine were shipped from Europe to Africa, enslaved people from Africa to the Americas, and sugar and coffee from the Americas to Europe.
What was the trade of slaves called?
transatlantic slave tradeThe Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Passage, and existed from the 16th to the 19th centuries.
What are three facts about the Middle Passage?
CrampedEnslaved people were chained and movement was restricted.Enslaved people were unable to go to the toilet and had to lie in their own filth. Sickness quickly spread.Enslaved people were all chained together. ... The state of the hold would quickly become unbearable – dark, stuffy and stinking.
What was significant about the Middle Passage?
The Middle Passage itself lasted roughly 80 days on ships ranging from small schooners to massive, purpose-built "slave ships." Ship crews packed humans together on or below decks without space to sit up or move around. Without ventilation or sufficient water, about 15% grew sick and died.
Why was it called the Middle Passage?
The captives were about to embark on the infamous Middle Passage, so called because it was the middle leg of a three-part voyage -- a voyage that began and ended in Europe. The first leg of the voyage carried a cargo that often included iron, cloth, brandy, firearms, and gunpowder.
What was traded from Europe to Africa?
Those goods imported to Africa in greatest volume included cloth, iron and copper in raw and worked form, and cowry shells used by local populations as currency. Nonutilitarian items such as jewelry, beads, mechanical toys and curiosities, and alcohol also met a receptive audience.
What did the European trade?
Europe sent manufactured goods and luxuries to North America. Europe also sent guns, cloth, iron, and beer to Africa in exchange fro gold, ivory, spices and hardwood. The primary export from Africa to North America and the West Indies was enslaved people to work on colonial plantations and farms.
What was the Middle Passage?
The Middle Passage was the stage of the triangular trade in which millions of West Africans were forcibly transported to the New World as part of the Atlantic slave trade. Ships departed Europe for West African markets ...
What were the proceeds from the sale of the enslaved Africans used for?
The proceeds from sale of the enslaved Africans were then used to buy hides, tobacco, sugar, rum, and raw materials, which would be transported back to northern Europe (third side of the triangle) to complete the triangle.
What was the Transoceanic segment of the Atlantic slave trade?
Transoceanic segment of the Atlantic slave trade. Commercial goods from Europe were shipped to Africa for sale and traded for enslaved Africans. Africans were in turn brought to the regions depicted in blue, in what became known as the "Middle Passage". Enslaved Africans were then traded for raw materials, which were returned to Europe ...
How many slaves were transported to the Americas?
According to modern research, roughly 12.5 million enslaved Africans were transported through via the Middle Passage to the Americas. The first European slave ship transported enslaved Africans from São Tomé to New Spain in 1525. Portuguese and Dutch traders dominated the trade in the 16th and 17th centuries, though by the eighteenth they were supplanted by the British and French. With the growing abolitionist movement in Europe and the Americas, the transatlantic slave trade gradually declined until being fully abolished in the second-half of the 19th century.
What side of the triangle did the slave ship go on?
Special slave ships transported the human cargo, in wretched conditions, males and females separated, across the Atlantic (second side of the triangle). Mortality was high; those with strong bodies survived. Young females were raped by the crew.
Why were slaves chained together?
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 chains or hand and leg cuffs were known as bilboes, which were among the many tools of the slave trade, and which were always in short supply.
Why were slaves brought on the French ship?
Aboard certain French ships, slaves were brought on deck to periodically receive fresh air. While female slaves were typically permitted to be on deck more frequently, male slaves would be watched closely to prevent revolt when above deck.
How long did the Middle Passage last?
The Middle Passage itself lasted roughly 80 days, on ships ranging from small schooners to massive, purpose-built "slave ships.". Humans were packed together on or below decks without space to sit up or move around. Without ventilation or sufficient water, about 15% grew sick and died.
What was the first slave trade?
Boston was part of this global story. The first slave trade voyage from the American colonies sailed out of Massachusetts. The ship Desire left Salem in 1637, carrying Native American captives from the Pequot War to be sold as slaves in the Caribbean. When it returned with the first known Africans imported into the northern English colonies, Boston was its most likely port of return. It is estimated that 166 transatlantic voyages embarked out of Boston. Local newspapers carried over 1,000 ads for the sale of slaves during the 18 th century, which took place everywhere from ships to markets, warehouses, coffee houses, and homes. Boston was further complicit in the Triangle Trade as a major exporter of rum, which was made from sugar produced in the Caribbean and sometimes sold in exchange for slaves in Africa. Ironically, commodities like sugar and molasses drove colonial Bostonians to revolution: leaders likened taxation on these goods to slavery even as the trade continued to prop up slavery itself.
How many Africans were transported across the Atlantic?
From the 16 th to the 19 th centuries, approximately 12 million Africans were transported across the Atlantic as human property. The most common routes formed what is now known as the "Triangle Trade" connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
When did the United States ban the transatlantic slave trade?
In 1808, Britain and the United States agreed to ban the transatlantic slave trade. Slavery itself flourished in the United States until the Civil War, becoming the defining issue of national political life.
How many slaves were sent to Brazil?
From 1560 to 1850, about 4.8 million enslaved people were transported to Brazil; 4.7 million were sent to the Caribbean; and at least 388,000, or 4% of those who survived the Middle Passage, arrived in North America.
What was the middle passage?
Perhaps one third of the captives perished on this journey, known as the Middle Passage—the middle leg of a three-part trade in slaves and goods between Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
When did the British abolish the slave trade?
Great Britain abolished its slave trade in 1807 and used its naval power to discourage other nations from the trade. In 1845 a British sailor painted this image of enslaved Africans below decks of the Brazilian slave ship Albanez (or Albaroz ). The British sloop Albatross captured the slaver with 300 Africans aboard in March of that year.
What was the demand for labor on the plantations of the New World?
For almost four centuries, the demand for labor on the plantations of the New World fueled a vast transatlantic market for the enslavement of people from Africa. This broadside advertised the sale of people from Gambia at Charleston, South Carolina.
How long did the Middle Passage last?
The Atlantic passage, or Middle Passage, usually to Brazil or an island in the Caribbean, was notorious for its brutality and for the overcrowded unsanitary conditions on slave ships, in which hundreds of Africans were packed tightly into tiers below decks for a voyage of about 5,000 miles (8,000 km) that could last from a few weeks to several months.
How many slaves were on the ship Brooks?
Detail of a British broadside depicting the ship Brooks and the manner (c. 1790) in which more than 420 enslaved adults and children could be carried on board.
Who was the leader of the revolt aboard the slave ship Amistad?
Portrait of Joseph Cinqué , leader of the revolt aboard the slave ship Amistad; from a broadside dated 1839.
What was the Middle Passage?
The Middle Passage was the second leg of the triangular trade of enslaved people that went from Europe to Africa, Africa to the Americas, and then back to Europe. Millions of Africans were packed tightly onto ships bound for the Americas.
Why did the British inspect the Middle Passage?
In the late 18th century, British abolitionists began inspecting the ships and publicizing details of the Middle Passage in order to alert the public to the horrific conditions aboard and gain support for their cause.
How many Africans were enslaved during the Middle Passage?
Broad Overview of the Middle Passage. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, 12.4 million Africans were enslaved by Europeans and transported to various countries in the Americas. The Middle Passage was the middle stop of the "triangular trade": European ships would first sail to the western coast of Africa to trade a variety ...
How many slaves survived the Middle Passage?
Roughly 15% of enslaved people didn't survive the Middle Passage. Their bodies were thrown overboard.
How long did the Captives stay in the hold of the ship?
They were kept in the hold of the ship for 16 hours a day and brought above deck for 8 hours, weather permitting.
What made the Middle Passage so terrible?
As mentioned in the previous paragraph, there were many elements that made the Middle Passage so terrible for the African slaves. For instance, while on board the slave ships, the slaves were commonly chained together and held in very small spaces in the ship’s hull.
Why was the Middle Passage important?
While the Middle Passage was an important economic trade route , it is also known for the terrible conditions aboard the slave ships that shipped African slaves to the New World. One of the key features that made travelling the Middle Passage so difficult was the length of the route and the time it took for slave ships to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
Why did the slaves suffer during the Middle Passage?
Beyond the cramped and hot conditions, the slaves also suffered due to a lack of quality food. For instance, the long journey of the Middle Passage meant there were very little food options that could be carried on the ships. As such, the voyage was difficult for even the slave traders.
What was the food that slaves ate on the ship?
In fact, historians believe that the most common food items for slaves during the Middle Passage were beans, corn, rice and yams.
How long did it take for slaves to travel through the Middle Passage?
With that said, it should be noted that by the 19th century, most slave ships were able to make the journey in about six weeks. Regardless, the length of the Middle Passage was difficult for the slaves aboard the ships, since they generally lacked basic medical attention, nutritious meals and sanitary conditions.
Why did slaves work on plantations?
Here the slaves would be put to work on plantations in order to harvest raw materials. The final stage of the Trade Triangle involved European traders taking the harvested raw materials from the plantations back to Europe where they were processed into goods in European factories.
What was the route from Africa to the Americas?
As stated previously, the route from Africa to the Americas was commonly known as the Middle Passage. Most of the slaves from Africa were taken by the European slave ships along the west coast of Africa. However, it should be noted that the Africa played an active role in the Atlantic Slave Trade. For instance, African societies along ...
What was the Middle Passage?
Introduction. The Middle Passage was the forced voyage of captive Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. It was the second stage of the triangular trade, or the route of the Atlantic slave trade. This route traded goods from Europe for African captives who were then traded for goods from the Americas.
How long did the Middle Passage affect Africans?
So many bodies of dead or dying Africans were thrown into the ocean that sharks regularly followed the slave ships. For more than 300 years the Middle Passage caused extreme physical, mental, and emotional pain for the uprooted Africans.
How many Africans died during the Middle Passage?
To prevent a mutiny, male captives were kept constantly chained to each other or to the deck. It is estimated that about 13 percent of Africans died during the Middle Passage. Deaths were usually caused by epidemics, suicide, and mutiny.
Why were captives brought on deck?
In the daytime, if the weather allowed it, captives were brought on deck for exercise. At this time some captains insisted that the captives’ area be scrubbed. However, if bad weather kept the captives below, the heat and harmful fumes caused fevers, sickness, and death.
What were the conditions of slavery in Africa?
Most of the enslaved people had been kidnapped from the interior of Africa and forced to march to the coast under horrid conditions. Once on the slave ship, captives were constantly exposed to danger. Raids at port, attacks by pirates or enemy ships, bad weather, epidemics (outbreaks of diseases), and various forms of abuse were some of the horrors Africans faced once they were on the slave ship.