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HISTORY
SCHOOL BASED ASSESSMENT ON THE
MIDDLE PASSAGE
YEAR 2014-2015
NAME: ADRIANA BETHANY JULIUS
CANDIDATE#: 1001381812
CENTRE#: 100138
TERRITORY: JAMAICA
SCHOOL: THE BRIDGEPORT HIGH SCHOOL
TEACHER: MS. M. DOIG
TABLE OF CONTENT PAGES
Area of Research……………………………………………… 3

Rationale…………………………………………………….. 4
Introduction…………………………………………………….. 5
Presentationof Data
Middle Passage………………………………………………….. 6-7
Conditions for slaves on the Middle Passage…………………….. 8-9
Mortality on the Middle Passage………………………………… 10-11
Analysis…………………………………………………………… 12
Conclusion……………………………………………………….. 13
Bibliography…………………………………………………….. 14
Appendix……………………………………………………… 15-18
AREA OF RESEARCH

‘WAS THE MIDDLEPASSAGE THE HORRIFIC LEG OF THE TRANS-ATLANTIC
TRADE IN THE 18TH CENTURY?’
RATIONALE

The researcher chose ‘Middle Passage’ because that was my most favored topic of the Caribbean
History Syllabus. When I was in class my teacher, Mrs. Doig, introduced the topic and was
giving some information about the middle passage and what some of our ancestor went through.
Going further and getting to know more about the middle passage, I found it very interesting;
that’s how I decided to do some research about the Middle Passage to learn more about it.
INTRODUCTION

The research is based on the Middle Passage. The Middle Passage was the leg of the Triangle
Trade where the slaves were taken from West Africa to the Americas. The Middle Passage was
said to be the most deadly leg of the Trans-Atlantic Trade.
The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was the largest long distance coerced movement of people in
history and prior to the mid-nineteenth century, formed the major demographic well spring for
the re-peopling of the Americas following the collapse of the Amerindians population. For the
first days, until the ship was well out to sea, the enslaved were kept below deck. There would
already have been escape attempts from the coffle or the pens or the barracoons, where traders
kept their human victims for sale.
On the high seas, a steady routine set in. The ship’s doctor made morning rounds attending to
the sick disposing of the dead. Relays of captives were allowed on the deck where they were
closely watched while being allowed to remain on deck.
The Middle Passage lasted for six to ten weeks, depending on the weather and destination.
Heavy seas often kept the hatches bolted for days on end and few captains considered more than
the most basic needs of their cargo. The gloom, stench and sweltering heat below deck brought
unbelievable misery.
PRESENTATION OF DATA

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was a three way trade from Europe to West Africa, from West Africa
to America and from America back to Europe.
In the Middle Passage many slaves died of diseases in the crowded holds of the slave ships. Once
the ship reached the New World, enslave survivors were sold in the Caribbean or the American
Colonies.
In the early days of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, a general merchant was used and extra decks
were fitted from the Middle Passage to carry more slaves. Then these decks were removed in the
West Indies to enlarge the hold for sugar. According to Dyde “In the nineteenth century special
ships know as ‘slavers’ were used for the Middle Passage and other vessels were used for sugar”.
Of course, then the same ship could not sail all the way around the triangle.
Slave ships in the eighteenth century also had special crews, carried seven (7) crew per one
hundred tons (100t) in merchant ships, but a slave ship carried twelve (12) per one hundred tons
(100t). However, a small ship would need a minimum of thirty (30) crews. The extra crew on a
slave ship was because of the regions sailing and the danger of slave revolts on board. Sailors on
slave ships and other merchant seamen did not interchange, and a sailor on a slaver was regarded
as more efficient at his job and definitely tougher.
The Middle Passage was unpopular with the sailors at first but after about three (3) voyages
they become hardened to the cruelty and unpleasantness, and then become brutal to them.
Hamber stated that “Often they did not last in the trade as long as this, but jumped ship in the
West Indies. Sailors on the ship were allowed to carry arms although other merchant seamen
were not. This was due the danger of revolt and also because they had to be prepared to fight
pirates near the West Indies because their cargo were valuable”.
The risk to a sailors’ life was much greater in the Slave Trade, not only was there revolt and

fighting, but also disease. The danger of this was very great because disease was not compared
between slaves and sailors. According to R.Greenwood “Sailors death rate was lower than that of
the slaves; it was only because they were fitter and better able to resist some diseases. Because of
nature the cargo, a slave ship had to carry specialist craftsmen like coopers and black-smiths to
repair barrels and irons. On the Middle Passage each slave and crew member was allowed one
barrel of water a ‘barricoe’, each. In a large ship this could mean one thousand barrels (1000)
barrels to be kept leak proof. The ships’ carpenter also had more work on a slave ship because of
the extra decks and fittings”.
CONDITIONS FOR SLAVES ON THE MIDDLE PASSAGE

In all the barbic business of the slave trade, the worst part was the Middle Passage. The slaves on
this leg were referred to as cattle, but they were treated even worse than the cattle, more like
inanimate cargo. According to Dyde “Slaves were capable of revolt and separated from their
tribesmen and families. Plotting was made impossible, yet they were cases of spontaneous revolt
on board ships. The slaves were embarked as quickly as possible and if they had not been
branded on the shore they were branded immediately on board. Men and women were kept apart.
Then they were chained below decks and only brought up once a day for exercise which is dance
or jump and down on spot to restore circulation”.
It’s not exaggerating to say that were accommodated like ‘sardines in a tin’. According to Prince
“The conditions on board ship were unsanitary and cramped. A normal between deck levels was
approximately five feet. On a slave ship these levels were cut in half by installing another deck
between the two making headroom of less than thirty inches. Some ships could carry
approximately three hundred slaves in this way. Usually men and women were separated. The
slaves were shackled ankle to ankle with leg irons. The slaves placed below decks could not sit
up, stand, or roll when sleeping. They received no bedding and the boards they lay on were
unsanded. Usually one rudimentary toilet was available so the weak and sick often lay in their
own urine and excrement. Ventilation was minimally provided by portholes which were boarded
over during bad weather. Dysentery was common among slaves on ship. Communal bowls were
used to feed slaves; they ate from these bowls using their bare hands which helped spread
disease. The food at first was European in origin but after time the crews found that an
indigenous African diet seemed to keep the slaves healthier. The slaves were allowed on deck for
exercise once a day to keep them healthy. Exercise often involved dancing for the entertainment

of the crew. Women were often allowed more freedom but were prey to the sexual advances of
the crew because of this”.
The worst conditions in the middle passage occurred between the years of 1650 and 1750,
because in the latter half of the eighteenth century the health of the slaves become more
important in order to save as many as possible. According to Claypole “They were covered in
sores which became infected with dirt”.
MORTALITY ON THE MIDDLE PASSAGE

Majority of the slaves died on the journey because of fatal diseases. According to Hamber “The
records of the Royal African Company show it last twenty-four percent (24%) of all the slaves
shipped between 1680 and 1688”. As the trade developed and became an increasingly important
part of international commerce; to keep some of the slaves from dying, they made an effort to
prevent most disease from spreading. For English ships in the 1700’s the death rate improved
from ten percent (10%) to five percent (5%).
Death could take place for a wide variety of reasons some are: The Perils of the Sea. Hamber
stated that “Ships could be lost in a storm seized by pirates or find itself becalmed with food and
water running out. The Danish slaver Kronprintzen was lost in a storm in 706 and eight hundred
and twenty (820) slaves on board were drowned”.
Other reasons include Insurance Fraud, Resistance and Revolt and the most common Diseases.
Greenwood stated that “Insurance Fraud involved the deliberate drowning of slaves”, this means
that some of the sailors purposely drowned the slaves so that they could earn more money.
Resistance and Revolt include the refusal of eating and attempts to suicide to open rebellions.
Dyde stated “In each English ship they attempt at rebellion in every eight to ten (8-10) years
voyages, very few were successful, but nearly all led to the death of some slaves. One of
successful ship was Bristol named Marlborough in 1752”.
Disease, this was one of the most common causes of death. The medical knowledge was such
that it was impossible to detect. Most of the slaves died of some diseases namely, such as: yellow
fever, small pox sea sickness and dehydration. According to Johnson “There was an outbreak of
disease. The ship's captain, reasoning that the slaves were going to die anyway, made a decision.

In order to reduce the owner's losses he would throw overboard the slaves thought to be too sick
to recover. The voyage was insured, but the insurance would not pay for sick slaves or even
those killed by illness. However, it would cover slaves lost through drowning”.
ANALYSIS OF DATA

The Middle Passage was the most horrific of the Trans-Atlantic Trade. The treatment of slaves
can be seen as cold hearted. The slaves travelled from such a long journey and they could not
stop to get fresh air. They were packed in an overcrowded ship for weeks, no entertainment, no
free space do things such as releasing waste from their body, well they let out a sweat but that is
not what I’m talking about, I’m talking about urinating and letting out feaces.
They got food to eat, yes, but many of the slaves refused to eat; not saying the foods weren’t
good it was some simple food such as rice, yam, fresh fruits, water etc. Now tell me how
someone could survive these tragedy ill-treatment (place under decks with no breathing space,
got whipped and branded if they disobeyed the leader who was in charge of them on the ship).
Every morning the doctors had to dispose of dead bodies by throwing them over board. One
thing the researcher can say is that they got to exercise to improve their body fitness and allowed
them to eat. For such a long journey the gloom stench and sweltering heat below deck brought
unbelievable misery. Claypole stated “Slaves and crews alike suffered from inflammation, fevers
and smallpox. Their limbs swelled and bodies rotted from yaws and dropsy. Slaves had been
reckoned at more than nine percent (9%); the Middle Passage only lasted for ten (10) weeks”.
Ten (10) weeks with such horrific and cold-hearted treatment, the Middle Passage was indeed
the most horrific leg of Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
CONCLUSION

Work in the New World ended in 1870. The immerse misery and suffering produced by Trans-
Atlantic Trade cannot be measured. It was the greatest and most inhumane trade of this type has
ever known.
Without slavery the figure could well have been at least twice as large. It was estimated that
eleven million three hundred and twenty-eight thousand (11,328,000) salves were transported by
the Europeans during time period not including the years of illegal tracking. The slaves were
traded for sugar, tobacco, coffee, rum and molasses. The Swahili term for this era of history is
called ‘Maafa’ which means Holocaust or Great Disaster.
The shortage of man power must have had a profound economic impact and it is perhaps not too
difficult to see a connection between the present under development of the Africans.
Senegambia and Upper Guinea 2,250,000
Ivory Coast 250,000
Slave Coast 2,000,000
Benin to Calabar 2,000,000
Gold Coast 1,500,000
Calabar to The Congo 3,000,000
The numbers taken from the various regions were probably order.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Claypole. W @ Robottom. J, (1964) Caribbean Story Book 2, Jamaica Ian Randle Publishers
Dyde.B, @ Greenwood, @ Hamber.S (2012) Amerindians to Africans, Macmillan Publishers
Limited
Retrieved from http//areyn-history.blogspot.com ‘Conditions of Slave’ Prince. M (2008)
Retrieved from www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/lh280 html. ‘Africans Thrown Overboard’ Johnson
(2005).
APPENDICES

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