Slave Trade and Amos Fortune Paragraph 1
May 1st, 1730 young European sailors sail off to capture slaves to sell for
goods. Africans are unexpectedly captured by the European sailors and put
aboard their ship. This route in which they took to capture the slaves is known as
the Trade Triangle. The Europeans sail off from Europe down to Africa to retrieve
slaves. They then travel through the passage that is now known as the Middle
Passage and drop off the remaining slaves to America for goods such as sugar,
coffee, and tobacco. They then return home and start the process again. For
slaves, the voyage down the Middle Passage was absolute torture. The slaves
were packed together below deck and were secured by leg irons. They all just met
their basic needs and were only fed once each day just so they wouldn’t die on
the voyage even though many did. The air below deck was foul and nasty and
caused much sickness. Most common sicknesses were fever, dysentery, and
smallpox. Since they were all so close to each other, sickness went around fast.
When they died they were thrown overboard. This all lasted for at least 6 to 8
weeks and then the slaves who were still alive were sold at auction in America.
They were then owned by people for most of or the rest of their lives.