Ch. 20 Atlantic World Lesson 6 (Burdon Unit 2)

1. The Atlantic World
THE MIDDLE PASSAGE

2. Opening Activity (3-5 Minutes)
 (Review) Make a list of the major products
that were traded on Triangle Trade routes.

3. Essential Question and Learning
Goals
 Essential Question: How has the Atlantic Slave
Trade impacted our modern era?
 Learning Goals:
1. Identify and describe the “Middle Passage”
2. Describe the hardships/conditions of slave
ships
3. Describe the different forms of rebellion on
slave ships

4. The Middle Passage
 The Middle Passage
 “The voyage that brought
captured Africans to the West
Indies”
AFRICA TO WEST INDIES
Later, North America and South
America
 The middle leg/middle part of the
Triangle Trade
http://image.slidesharecdn.com/middle-passage-2-1207242466352985-9/95/middle-passage-2-
3-728.jpg?cb=1207217250

5. Filling the Ships
 Averaged between 400-700 enslaved Africans per ship
 Men and women separated
 Men considered “dangerous”
 Young, fit, strong
 Men often chained together
 Shackles
 Handcuffs
 Leg irons
 Spaces less than “5 feet high”
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=2&psid=446
http://discoveringbristol.org.uk/slavery/routes/from-africa-to-america/atlantic-crossing/middle-
passage/
http://projects.ilt.columbia.edu/seneca/afamnyc/images/sv055.gif

6. Conditions of the Ships
 Trips ranged from: 7-16 weeks
 Dependent on conditions
 Minimal ventilation
 Little airflow
 Stench
 “Relieved” yourself where you lay
 Sickness and disease common
 Malnutrition
http://discoveringbristol.org.uk/slavery/routes/from-africa-to-america/atlantic-crossing/middle-
passage/
http://www.recoveredhistories.org/images/passage-03.jpg

7. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah
Equiano: Slave Ship [Excerpt]—Primary Source
Analysis Activity (15-20 Minutes)
 Provide students with copy of document
 Source: http://chnm.gmu.edu/cyh/case-
studies/141?section=primarysources&source=143
 Questions to answer: (These will be provided on the document)
 1. What is the overall tone of this selection? (1-2 sentences)
 2. How did he describe the conditions of the ship? (4-5
sentences)
 3. What was the treatment of enslaved individuals like on the
ship? (3-5 sentences)

8. Formative Assessment (3-5 Minutes)
Why do you think that the spread of
sickness and disease were common
on “slave ships?” (3-5 sentences)

9. Sickness and Disease
 Seasickness common
 Many enslaved individuals had never been on the water
 Sickness:
 Sores
 Fever
 Dehydration
 Disease:
 Dysentery
 Measles
 Scurvy
 Smallpox

10. Treatment of Slaves
 Sexual abuse (women AND men)
 Physical abuse
 Whipping
 Beatings
 Murder (“unruly” individuals)
 Forced labor
 Forced exercise
 Forced meals
http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ism/slavery/middle_passage/ http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/slavery/slave-ship-4.jpg

11. Forms of Rebellion
 Suicide
Jumping overboard
 Infanticide
 Starvation
 Mutiny (uprising)
 Self-mutilation
 Refusing to work
http://www.understandingslavery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=310:r
esistance-and-rebellion&Itemid=222
http://api.ning.com/files/2RR8Hh9pEHha6hyWC*mDyqPy*EnvLP0JwV4VT5HDllj62AsA7ij9RASzHs41
LoObJsVjjY4obmh5KN0AAcupLNNXnFQryW2d/Larevolte.jpg?width=400

12. Summative Assessment (10-15
Minutes)
 Imagine that you have just arrived in the West
Indies after making the voyage from West
Africa as an enslaved individual. Write a (1
PAGE) letter to your family in West Africa
describing the hardships that you
experienced on your journey. (Utilize your
notes, textbook, and primary source for facts
and ideas)
 Complete as homework if you do not finish in
class

13. Launch
 Slave ship simulation
 All students will participate in this activity

14. Closing/Summarizer
 Video Clip: “1700’s Slave Trade: The Middle Passage” (~5 Minutes)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hP3j5qIPETk