“[The slave trade] is one of history’s most horrific chapters, showing the human capacity for both cruelty and insensitivity [as well as] strength and survival,” says The Middle Passage by Recovered Histories. In his narrative, Equiano discusses the miseries of the slave trade. Specifically in this section, the Middle Passage is told from his first-hand account. Several horrific facts have been revealed about the slave trade since slavery was dissolved over a hundred and fifty years ago. There are several stark, horrific facts about the Middle Passage which are revealed through historic facts as well as Equiano’s narrative. Not only did these people have to endure the terrifying and deadly Middle Passage, but before they bore these, they …show more content…
“Often did I think many inhabitants of the deep much more happy than myself,” Equiano states in his memoir The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. The Middle Passage by the Abolition Project confirms that many of the shelves the slaves were put into were under a meter high. This resulted in the slaves often being unable to sit up. “Women were often used sexually. Men were often chained in pairs, shackled wrist to wrist or ankle to ankle. People were crowded together, usually forced to lie on their backs with their heads between the legs of others. This meant they often had to lie in each other's feces, urine, and, in the case of dysentery, even blood,” states pbs.org. Equiano also states, “…rather than give any of them to us to eat, as we expected, they tossed the remaining fish into the sea again…some…took an opportunity and trying to get a little privately; but they were discovered and the attempt procured them some very severe …show more content…
However, either way, losses in the life of the prisoners was extensive. One of the two philosophies was “loose packing,” which had less slaves on a ship in the hopes more would survive, verses “tight packing” in which they boarded as many slaves as possible onto the ship, believing that despite greater losses, there would be greater profit if there were a greater number. According to The Middle Passage by Discovering Bristol, “The average losses were between 10 and 20%, through sickness, suicide and even murder at the hands of the slave crew and captains. 10% means over 1,000,000 Africans died on board the ships, 20% represents over 2,000,000
In the excerpt from the Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass describes the inhuman life for the enslaved people on Colonel Lloyd’s plantation. First, Douglass mentions that those enslaved are given the very minimum amount of resources. In addition, Douglass states that the enslaved were given two shirts, one pair of trousers, one jacket, one pair of stockings and one pair of shoes, these they have to wear for a year until the next allowance day. For children who can no longer wear their clothes were naked until the next allowance day. Second, the enslaved were lack of food, their monthly allowance of food contained eight pounds of pork or fish, and one bushel of corn meal.
How were captives treated during their journey otherwise known as the Middle Passage? The Middle Passage refers to the journey in which Africans were transported across the Atlantic to the West Indies as slaves and were then sold or traded for raw materials. Due to the fact that Africans were considered as less than human, the conditions they were forced to endure during the Middle Passage were appalling. Evidently, the conditions varied by ship and voyage, yet the same problems arose; disease, abuse, lack of food and water as well as inadequate living conditions.
2/3rds of the passage never made it to America. There were two kinds of packs: loose packs and tight packs. In loose packs, slaves were able to move, but in tight packs, there were so many slaves, the cargo
Then as well with the Middle passage traveling how in Falconbridge it says "The man slaves, on being brought aboard the ship, are immediately fastened together, two and two, by hand-cuffs on their wrists, and by irons riveted on their leg" (Freeman 3). And then in Equiano it talks about how the author saw tons of slaved chained together and he was horrified. 2) How do the two accounts differ in describing the Middle Passage? Do these inconsistencies discredit either story?
Olaudah Equiano was an African American man in England during the late 1700s. His racial color alone automatically ascribed him as a slave during this time period. In 1789, Equiano wrote a memoir about his journey as a slave. At this time, the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was taking place. Therefor slavery was very common, and it was not abnormal for a young child to be kidnapped and forced into slavery (Equiano 3).
The middle passage was a sea journey by slave ships from West Africa to the West Indies and Americas from 1601-1857 (University). The first successful African author, Olaudah Equiano (Donaldson) portrays the vivid details and personalizes these destructive forces of slave trading during the middle passage. In his narrative, Equiano influenced British abolitionists, as well as European slave masters, and convicted them of their wrongdoing. Slave trading during the middle passage was the most destructive thing to happen within the African culture because of the harsh physical and psychological effects, inhumane treatment, and dehumanization of slaves. Equiano’s enslavement lasted from 1756 – 1766.
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
That quote paints a vivid picture in my head of how their bodies were used as experiments while chained
The most reliable document to understand the Middle Passage is document c which was the account of a slave ship doctor named Alexander Falconbridge in 1788 of the Slave Trade of Coast of Africa. This document is reliable because it is a primary source which is “an artifact, a document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, a recording, or other source of information that was created at the time under study”. Besides being a primary source, he was neither a slave owner or a slave, so there wouldn't be much bias towards a group. In his account, he writes about the harsh conditions he witnessed such as slaves being cuffed and held so closely to each other that they could only lie on their sides, buckets for feces, buckets for water, and tubs for food. These conditions lead to diseases such as flux to be spread easily.
Then as well with the Middle passage traveling how in Falconbridge it says "The man slaves, on being brought aboard the ship, are immediately fastened together, two and two, by hand-cuffs on their wrists, and by irons riveted on their leg" (Freeman 3). And then in Equiano it talks about how the author saw tons of slaved chained together and he was horrified. 2) How do the two accounts differ in describing the Middle Passage? Do these inconsistencies discredit either story?
Argument paper. The Middle Passage is the part of the trade, where Africans, tightly packed on ships, were transported across the Atlantic Ocean to the West Indies. The journey lasted for several months, at this time the enslaved people basically lay in chains in rows on the floor of the ship 's hold. Genocide, in turn, does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of the nation, except for the massacres of all members of the nation.
The detailed descriptions included in primary sources, along with the descriptive and emotional illustrations included in graphic history are crucial elements in studying and understanding the process and history of the transatlantic slave trade. Rafe Blaufarb and Liz Clarke tie both of these together to help readers truly understand this historic tragedy in the book, Inhuman Traffick: The International Struggle Against the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Although different than the standard book that may be used, that simply spews information out in an uncreative and somewhat boring way, this book is a tool that can be chosen in classrooms to teach different aspects of the slave trade. Working together, the primary sources and graphic history
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.
Due to the conditions “This produced copious perspirations, so that the air soon became unfit for respiration from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought sickness among the slaves, of which many died,” (25) They were chained and packed which ultimately lead to