Slavery During The Middle Passage

Floating Dungeons Slave ships were wicked and cruel. They traveled from Europe filled with merchandise down to Africa, where the goods were traded for slaves. The slaves were then taken from Africa to Brazil, the Caribbean, and North America. This stretch of the journey is called the Middle Passage. These floating dungeons were filled with people who were held against their will, in brutal conditions, with severe and malicious punishments. Many died and were tossed off the ship without any more thought given to them. The Middle Passage was typically a two to three-month journey, where people were trapped and faced the utmost cruelty. The majority of people on slave ships were not there by choice. The African captives, that significantly
For the crew, they were often given minimal food and water, despite working in harsh conditions. James Field Stanfield, who made a slaving voyage in the 18th century, stated “this horrid portion of the voyage [the Middle Passage] was but one continued scene of barbarity, unremitting labor, mortality, and disease” (Rediker p.148). There was not room for cots and men slept on chests and cables, in the tropics they slept on the decks (Rediker p.141-142). Captives, however, slept on wood shelves in their own excretions. Slaves were crammed into holds only half the size that was allowed for transporting convicts. They were kept shackled in pairs, belowdecks in dark holds riddled with disease. Captives were only allowed on deck twice a day, in small groups for meals and, on some ships, exercise. In the 17th century, twenty percent of slaves being transported died during the voyage, in the 18th century, ten percent died. Convicts being transported across the Atlantic, however, only four percent died (Taylor
Beatings, floggings, and torture were normal occurrences. Stanfield on his voyage observed, “flogging, that favorite exercise, was in continual use with the poor Negroes, as well as the seamen” (Rediker p.149). To keep slaves in good condition for sale, those who refused to eat were forced to. Sailors used a speculum oris, a device used to force the jaw open then force food down. Captives were forced to exercise, usually dancing and singing, with the use of a whip (Taylor p.328). Captain Richard Harding of a slave ship was reported to have killed a slave and forced two others to eat his heart and liver to scare the other slaves into obedience. He also had a woman strung up by her thumbs and whipped and slashed with knives until she died (Rediker