Middle Passage Into Slavery

Charles Johnson's use of journal entries in his novel, The Middle Passage, is a powerful literary device that enhances the impact of the story. By incorporating personal accounts and first-hand experiences of characters, Johnson brings a level of authenticity and emotional depth to the novel that would be impossible to achieve through narration alone. Johnson's use of journal entries in The Middle Passage is a key factor in its ability to convey the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade and the impact it had on the lives of those who were forced to endure it. One of the most striking aspects of The Middle Passage is the vividness and detail with which Johnson portrays the experience of being a slave aboard a slave ship.

Many slaves being shipped to America had been betrayed by their own race, kidnapped and sold into slavery. The conditions on the ship were horrendous and each man was chained to an area and given about six feet long by fifteen inches wide. The boats were extremely packed with close corners and no bathroom, and women or children got even less space than the men. Many a times, the crew tried to justify the chaining by stating the it was a form of protection to avoid an uprising. In one of the examples Rediker gave, the slave ship, with Captain Tomba, who was known for brutal beatings including whipping, handing out cruel punishments to scare the other slaves into not acting out.

It gave them an accurate account of slave trade during that time. This was evident throughout the narrative. An example was when he mentions “I was soon put down under the decks, and then I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had never experienced…” He described a personal rendition of the conditions and treatments he faced on the ship.

When they were getting ready to be sold, they would have marches for several miles and some of them would be shackled around the neck. Once they reached the coast of where they would board ships, the slaves would be put into cages just like animals are today. After boarding the ships, they were cramped in so tight that hundreds of them would die because they would not being able to breath. Inhuman conditions like these went on for thousands of year. Incidents such as running away or sleeping with a black slave would appear during this time.

The Middle Passage was the voyage from Africa to the Americas. This voyage was a horrible experience characterized by cramped areas, rampant disease, hunger strikes, filth (which contributed to ultimately more deaths), and even suicide by those who couldn't tolerate the conditions anymore and jumped overboard. This horrible treatment of slaves it was makes it so significant. In addition, 12.5 million slaves were transported. As a result, this large importation of slaves was responsible for European wealth in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Many slaves weren't able to buy freedom, and life became something you had to fight for as times were at the peak for death of slaves. Readers of Equiano's account could only assume that slaves were treated as they were the bottom of the barrel. Slaves didn't always live to tell their tale as to what had really happened during the Middle Passage and slave life. Equiano pursues to tell us how easy it became to die as a slave. Whether it be not being able to eat from disease, or terrorized by slave owners, death almost became inevitable.

From 1600 through 1800 the new world experienced a time period in which America does not like to remember. During this time slavery grew and transformed to something we've never seen before. Atlantic slave trade changed the lives of millions of Africans, ripping them from their home like rag dolls and bringing them to a strange foreign land they would call home and being forced to work as slaves, in hot, miserable conditions with little food, and water as a result the lives of Africans would never be same and the Atlantic slave trade would wet the pallet for slavery throughout America's History. In the new found land named the Americas, Europeans were colonizing and were taking the land from the Natives and using it for themselves to

Many of the sailors were accurately portrayed by their actions, by throwing slaves into the ocean, flogging, beaten, tortured, and other forms of cruel punishment. “Alexander Falconbridge was a surgeon on slave ships in the 18th century. An abolitionist and governor himself is guilty of all the violent attacks towards slaves. A disgraces to human nature, and profound language were brutal examples sailors often used towards slaves.” ( First Hand; Accounts Study).

In our minds, however, we do not all live in the same America (Brown & Holt, 2000). The experience of traveling the Middle Passage may not been passed down in family stories but the history is horrific time. The Middle Passage is the transatlantic voyage slaves faced coming to America after being captured and forced to leave their homes. The behavior is today may seem barbaric for the isolation and cruel yet the ones who survived weeks on the ships came to America with strength and known as survivors after weeks on board of ships.

Alexander Falconbridge served as a surgeon on the ships that transported slaves through the middle passage. He managed to only make four voyages between 1780 and 1787 due to the harsh circumstances he was witnessing, which ultimately led him to write An Account of the Middle Passage. The Middle Passage was the hardest and most dangerous part of the voyage for any slave transported out of Africa. The article carefully describes the strenuous conditions the slaves were in while being in the ships. An analysis of Alexander Falconbridge’s An Account of the Middle Passage reveals how this surgeon’s perspective aided the progression of the abolition movement by showcasing a new perspective of the Middle Passage, and how his purpose was to inform the general public on how dreadful these

While this story does not mention the transatlantic slave trade, it illustrates the escape from slavery and the horrors a slave carried on their path to freedom. These horrors include suicide, death, physical beating, rape, and spiritual instability. Unlike “The Sorrows from Yamba,” “The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim’s Point” illustrates the after-fact of escape from slavery instead of the reflection. The main character’s morals and values come from slavery and its effect on

Homage to the Empress of the Blues The poem “Homage to the Empress of the Blues” by Robert E. Hayden, written in 1962, is a tribute to the blues singer Bessie Smith. This poem requires careful reading and attention. This poem is an honor to Bessie Smith, an African American blues singer who was very popular in the 1920s and 1930s. I listened to the blues song on YouTube and the rhythm it made me want to sing along but there was definitely a message behind the song I think about African American slaves.

Men were chained by each other’s packed in cargo they had to lie in each other’s blood and urine. The development of the Atlantic slave trade enslaved far greater numbers of Africans and increased exploitation of slave labour from Africa to New World. Slaves were exported from Africa to America for a hard work firstly had to endure inhuman conditions in

The Trans-Atlantic slave trade impacted and changed the world by misplacing and separating thousands of individuals from their families and homes. Thousands of people lost their lives when they were abducted and forced into slavery. Many did not survive the ship rides to the Americas. Many were murdered and tortured. Some were thrown of boats and died from diseases caught on the ship.

Living conditions for slaves were dreadful, with long work hours and low wages. Slave masters separated families and sold off children from their parents, or vice versa. Slaves were prone to severe punishment for even trivial offenses. Whippings and beatings were prevalent. Running away allowed them to get away from all the hostility, if only for a while.