However, by the 19th century, many slave ships crossed the Middle Passage in fewer than six weeks.
In the early 16th century, the average trip took a few months. Over time, human trafficking ships got better at making the trip more quickly. Sailing through the Middle Passage could take anywhere from one to six months, depending on the weather. Sometimes, slaves were allowed to move around during the day, but many ships kept enslaved people chained up for the entire trip. (The famous drawing on the right shows how closely enslaved people were packed together on some slave ships.) Enslaved men were often chained together at the ankles. Often, they were packed together as closely as possible. Įnslaved people were then packed onto the slave ships. They might have to wait in these forts, which were like prisons, for months before slave ships arrived. There they were sold to European and American human traffickers. (From an Abstract of Evidence delivered before a select committee of the House of Commons in 17.)Īfter being kidnapped, enslaved African people were usually forcibly marched to forts along the coast of western Africa. The enslaved peoples' journey ĭiagram of a slave ship from the Atlantic slave trade, called the "Brookes" slave ship. That cloth could then be sent to Africa to trade for more enslaved people. For example, cotton would be used to make cloth. Then the triangular trade would start all over again. These raw materials would be sent to Europe, where they were used to make things. There they were sold as slaves, or traded for raw materials like sugar, tobacco, and cotton, which other enslaved people had made. (2) Africa to the Americas (the Middle Passage)Įnslaved African people were brought to the Americas on slave ships. In Africa, these things were traded for African people who had been bought as slaves or kidnapped. (1) Europe to Africa Ships brought weapons, gunpowder, cloth, rum, and manufactured goods from Europe to Africa. The three parts of the Atlantic slave trade were: Because of this, it was called "the triangular trade." The Middle Passage got its name because it was the middle part of the triangular trade. The transatlantic trade of African people had three different parts. However, somewhere between 9.4 million and 12 million African people survived the Middle Passage, and arrived in the Americas as slaves. Historians think that up to two million African people died during the Middle Passage. Even more were killed before they left Africa, when slave traders were trying to kidnap them and force them onto the slave ships. Įnslaved people were treated so badly on the slave ships that about 15% of them died during the Middle Passage. Millions of African people were shipped to the Americas over the Middle Passage. The Middle Passage the part of the Atlantic slave trade where African slaves were brought to the Americas on slave ships. Slave ship model displayed at the National Museum of American History ( Smithsonian Institution)
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