Middle Passage & Conditions

• Conditions on The Middle Passage

  • Some enslaved people had nowhere to sleep, or lie down
  • Enslaved people were usually kept below deck, chained, being let out for fresh air, and exercise,
  • Exercise happened at noon
  • This created potential for revolt
  • A cannon gun would be placed as a deterrent
• Tightly-packed ship

  Fit as many enslaved people as possible into a ship
• Loosely-packed ship

  More space meant higher likelihood of slaves to live
• Conditions on The Middle Passage - Disease

  • Overcrowded conditions led to disease
  • Dysentery - severe diarrhoea
  • Dropsy - swelling caused by infections
  • Scarlet fever - spread in crowded conditions
  • Malaria - caused by mosquitoes
  • Yellow fever - caused chills, sickness, and headaches
• Conditions on The Middle Passage - Disease

  • During a storm, Africans would be kept below deck all day, causing disease to spread easily
  • The crew also became ill - deaths amongst crew were higher than on other sailing boats
  • Around 2 million died during the Middle Passage
• Conditions on The Middle Passage - Food & Drinks

  • Enslaved people were fed twice a day, and given a pint of water with each meal
  • Food consisted of:
  • Millet,
  • Rice,
  • Yams,
  • 'Slabber sauce' - palm oil, water, and pepper
• Conditions on The Middle Passage - Food & Drinks

  • On some ships, enslaved people were given an 'African meal' at 10am, and an 'European meal' at 4pm
• Conditions on The Middle Passage - Food Monitors

  • Monitors were used to make sure slaves didn't starve themselves to death
  • If they refused to eat, they would be force fed with a mouth opener
• Conditions on The Middle Passage - Food Monitors

  • Monitors gave signals when to dip their fingers into their food, and then a signal when they should swallow the food