“The Journey from Africa to the Caribbean”

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was a multi-dimensional journey that featured the  capturing of individuals from within West Africa, and bringing them to the coast to be sold to slave traders. The ordeal went further to pack these slaves on ships which journeyed them to the Caribbean to work on plantations as slaves. The journey from Africa to the Caribbean was known as the Middle Passage.  The Middle Passage can only be understood through the examination of the sheer magnitude of inhumane experiences that these men, women and children had to undergo. For 366 years, European slavers loaded approximately 12.5 million Africans onto Atlantic slave ships. About 11 million survived the Middle Passage to landfall and life in the Americas. 

The middle passage, which lasted an average 80 days, saw ships that were packed with humans, goods and other commodities journey across the ocean in ships known as Guineamen. 

Humans were confined to small spaces, usually packed and chained to each other. Slaves were only allowed one hour to run around the deck and during this time, literature outline that many would commit suicide by jumping overboard. 

If the seas were to be drained from Africa to the Caribbean numerous bodies would have been found along the way of slaves who jumped overboard to escape the horrors of slavery. While stacked together, as though they were goods, slaves were forced to eat, drink, excrete and sleep fixed in that one position. 

The slaves were stacked together with each of them confined to spaces no more than 6ft. The spaces were poorly ventilated which caused many to die from the obnoxious fumes or to become terribly ill. Slaves were also poorly fed, and received water and meals twice daily and this was dependent on the conditions at sea. If the journey was prolonged due to sea conditions, the ration of food for slaves significantly declined, which also resulted in death due to starvation. 

This journey brought wealth to slave traders and plantation owners at the physical, emotional and sexual expense of Africans who were forced on this journey and forced into slavery. These individuals were severed from their families and loved ones and forced to journey and work on a plantation under horrific and gruesome circumstances.

Source:

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2020).Slave Trade. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/slave-trade