Slavery & the Middle Passage
Today’s Objectives
Describe the Triangle Trade and what
was traded.
 Explain what is meant by the “middle
passage.”
 Describe the evolution of the African
Slave Trade and its consequences.

The Triangle Trade
Trade route with three legs.
Leg 1

Guns, cloth, iron, and beer are taken to Africa.
Leg 2 – The Middle Passage
Africans’ voyage across the Atlantic to the New World
to be used as slaves in the plantation system.
Leg 3
Sugar is taken to Europe to be made into rum.
Other raw materials, lumber, whale oil, etc – are
taken to be used in Europe.
Triangular Trade linked:
 Europe
 Africa
 Americas
The “Middle Passage”
“I’m in the belly of
the beast, the
bottom of the
boat,
And home is a
place I'll never
get to go.”
Coffin Position Below Deck
Good Weather
• Allowed to roam on deck
• Fed two small meals:
1. Boiled rice, millet, or
cornmeal and a daily ration of
a half-pint of water in a
“pannikin”
2. Horse beans, the cheapest
food available
Exercise
• Had to be in acceptable physical
condition to maximize profit
• “Dancing”: Men were forced to jump
up and down to the beat of a drum until
their ankles bled from their chains
• Crew members whipped slaves who
refused to dance
Bad Weather
• The worst time of the Middle Passage
• Slaves remained below deck all day
and night
• These “tween decks” were filled with
slaves (live and dead), blood, vomit,
urine, and human waste
• Slaves not fed as usual- forced to
scrounge for crumbs
“Bedwarming”
• Crew member or captain took slave
women from the tween decks at
night
• Physically and sexually abused
• This practice demonstrated the
figurative and literal rape of the
African-American culture by the
slave traders of the Middle Passage
• Made weapons of chains and shackles to
attempt to kill crew
• Uprisings usually put down quickly by
crew  Most Africans who attempted to
revolt were killed in the process
• Africans harmed themselves to
threaten cargo (suicide, starvation) 
Crew force fed slaves
• One of the few
successful slave
mutinies
• A group of Africans
led by Congolese
chief Cinque killed
captain and most of
crew on the
Amistad
• Long legal battle 
Supreme Court
ruled the Africans
to be free
• Extreme overcrowding, deplorable
conditions caused many to die
• Dysentery, smallpox, ophthalmia,
malaria, yellow fever, scurvy
• Gone mad  flogged or clubbed to
death and thrown overboard
• Sick  starved
• Contagious  thrown overboard so as
not to infect others
• Suicide, death from revolting
The Middle Passage


Mr. Betts Class: Equiano & the Middle Passage
As you watch the clip, take notes on the things that
Equiano experiences: the sights, sounds, smells,
feelings, questions on the voyage.
The Evolution of African Slavery


Some Native Americans died from fighting the
Europeans but the majority died of disease.
African slaves were better at fighting off diseases.
 Old
world
 Immunities that built up over time

As colonies expanded, the demand for slaves grew.
 “Cash
Crops” (sugar and rice) = need for lots of labor
 Fewer indentured servants were coming from England
Slavery in the Americas





African slaves were
auctioned off to the highest
bidder.
Slaves worked in mines or
fields or as servants.
Lifetime of bondage that was
carried on for generations.
Slaves kept African traditions
alive – music & stories
Resistance and rebellion
Consequences in Africa



African cultures lost their fittest, best people.
African families were separated.
Introduction of guns.
Consequences in the Americas

Led to growth of the
colonies
 Economic
 Cultural


Led to economic and
social divisions  Civil
War
Intermarriage and mixed
race populations