Triangular Trade and
the Middle Passage
Big Ideas of the Lesson
1. Using multiple sources can help us better
understand the terrible conditions of the Middle
Passage and slavery
2. Enslaved Africans were forced into ships and
across the Middle Passage to the Americas.
3. The Middle Passage was part of the triangle trade
routes during colonial times.
4. Conditions aboard the slave ships were horrible.
Many Africans died on the voyage.
5. People like merchants, plantation owners, and
shipping companies benefited from the slave trade
but there were terrible costs of African cultures and
Africans.
Sources Historians use to
Make Sense of the Past
•
•
•
•
•
Letters
Diaries
Photographs
Historic Maps
Artifacts
Word Card #12: Slavery
Definition: A system that forced people to
work and treated enslaved people as property.
Slavery in the Colonies
•
•
•
•
Enslaved Africans were
brought to New Spain to work
in mines and on plantations.
Enslaved Africans were also
forced to work on plantations
in Louisiana which was part of
New France.
The first Africans were brought
to Jamestown in 1619.
Slavery was not allowed at first
in Georgia but then the king
took over and it was allowed
and encouraged.
Text Source Activity
Listen for directions for the activity.
World Card #13:
Triangular Trade
rade patterns connecting the Colonies, Europe, Africa and th
ngular trade patterns were used to bring enslaved Africans to
What Was Traded?
New England carried fish, lumber and other goods to the
the islands between North and South America in the Car
New England
Colonies
•
•
Ships from New
England carried fish,
lumber and other
goods to the West
Indies.
In the West Indies,
these New England
traders bought sugar
and molasses, which
was a dark brown
syrup made from
sugar cane sugar.
West Indies
Ships then sailed back to
New England where
colonists used the molasses
and sugar to make rum.
Ships carried the
rum as well as other
goods such as cloth
and tools to West
Africa.
West Africa
Question: What do you
think these goods were
traded for in West
Africa?
Enslaved Africans
In West Africa, these goods
were traded for Enslaved
Africans.
Ships then took enslaved
Africans to the West
Indies where they were
sold.
The money was used to by
more molasses and
sugar.
Interactive Map of Triangular
Trade
Click Here to see the Map!
Word Card #14:
Middle Passage
Definition: the route used to take enslaved Africans
across the Atlantic from Africa to the Americas.
Example: The Middle Passage was a horrible
experience for the enslaved Africans.
r Sculpture in Grenada (West Indies) Honoring the Ensla
•
After a long and difficult journey from the interior
of Africa to the coast, enslaved Africans were
forced to wait in dungeons or other prison-type
areas. Waiting lasted weeks, months and
sometimes as long as a year.
Enslaved people were commonly branded with
the imprint of the French, English or Dutch
company that had purchased them.
When the slave ships arrived, the enslaved people
were forced onboard into cramped living
quarters beneath the decks where there was little
ventilation and no sanitary facilities. There was
no place for standing. People were chained
together on their backs.
•
•
•
•
•
•
What consequences do you think
slavery had on the cultures of Africa?
Families were broken
apart
Villages lost large
numbers of people
Cultures lost farmers,
artists and leaders
Farming, trading and
other activities were
completely disrupted
Conflicts rose between
African cultures over
slavery
The population in many
areas went down
drastically