Objective: To examine the conditions faced by African slaves during the Middle Passage. 'Inventory of Negroes, Cattle, Horses, etc on the estate of Sir James Lowther Bart in Barbados taken this 31st day of December 1766'

The Arrival of Europeans in Africa - 1795 The Portuguese, under the sponsorship of Prince Henry, had landed in West Africa 350 years earlier.

This engraving, entitled An African man being inspected for sale into slavery while a white man talks with African slave traders, appeared in the detailed account of a former slave ship captain and was published in 1854.

Middle Passage – Passage across the Atlantic Ocean from West Africa to the Americas the was the route of the African American slave trade

An incident recorded in article entitled “Middle Passage.” What happened to the two women aboard the slave ship, and what caused it to occur? One drowned trying to save her baby that was thrown overboard. The other woman, who also jumped overboard to save her baby was rescued. However, she later jumped over again, committing suicide. Many Africans committed suicide because of their inhumane treatment.

The slave ship Brookes with 482 people packed onto the decks The slave ship Brookes with 482 people packed onto the decks. The drawing of the slave ship Brookes was distributed by the Abolitionist Society in England as part of their campaign against the slave trade, and dates from 1789.

Interior of a Slave Ship, a woodcut illustration from the publication, A History of the Amistad Captives, reveals how hundreds of slaves could be held within a slave ship. Tightly packed and confined in an area with just barely enough room to sit up, slaves were known to die from a lack of breathable air.

Africans were crowded and chained cruelly aboard slave ships.

"...the excessive heat was not the only thing that rendered their situation intolerable. The deck, that is the floor of their rooms, was so covered with the blood and mucus which had proceeded from them in consequence of the flux, that it resembled a slaughterhouse." Taken from Alexander Falconbridge, a surgeon aboard slave ships and later the governor of a British colony for freed slaves in Sierra Leone.

Frequently, slaves were permitted on deck in small groups for brief periods, where the crew would encourage, and many times force, captives to dance for exercise.

"Exercise being deemed necessary for the preservation of their health they are sometimes obliged to dance when the weather will permit their coming on deck. If they go about it reluctantly or do not move with agility, they are flogged…” Taken from Alexander Falconbridge, An Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of Africa.

…refusing to take sustenance, I have seen coals of fire, glowing hot, put a shovel, placed so near the lips, as to scorch and burn them. I have also been credibly informed that a certain captain in the slave trade poured melted lead on … those that refused their food. Taken from Alexander Falconbridge, An Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of Africa.

Heading for Jamaica in 1781, the ship Zong was nearing the end of its voyage. It had been twelve weeks since it had sailed from the west African coast with its cargo of 417 slaves. Water was running out. Then, compounding the problem, 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. The captain gave the order; 54 Africans were chained together, then thrown overboard. Another 78 were drowned over the next two days. By the time the ship had reached the Caribbean,132 persons had been murdered.

"I was soon put down under the decks, and there I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life: so that, with the loathsomeness of the stench, and crying together, I became so sick and low that I was not able to eat, nor had I the least desire to taste anything. I now wished for the last friend, death, to relieve me; but soon, to my grief, two of the white men offered me eatables; and on my refusing to eat, one of them held me fast by the hands and laid me across I think the windlass, and tied my feet, while the other flogged me severely.” - Olaudah Equiano, giving the first eyewitness account of life on a ship from a slave's point of view.

THIS is the Vessel that had the Small-Pox on Board at the Time of her Arrival the 31st of March last: Every necessary Precaution hath since been taken to cleanse both Ship and Cargo thoroughly, so that those who may be inclined to purchase need not be under the least Apprehension of Danger from Infliction. The NEGROES are allowed to be the likeliest Parcel that have been imported this Season.

Diseases, such as dysentery, malaria, and smallpox killed thousands of Africans. From 13% - 20% of the Africans aboard slave ships died during the Middle Passage. Between 1699 and 1845 there were 55 successful African uprisings on slave ships. William Snelgrave, from A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea, and the Slave Trade