Middle passage was the stage of the triangular trade in which millions of people from africa[1] were shipped to the new world, as part of the atlantic slave trade.
- ships departed europe for african markets with manufactured goods, which were traded for purchased or kidnapped africans, who were transported across the atlantic as slaves; the slaves were then sold or traded for raw materials, which would be transported back to europe to complete the voyage.
- traders from the americas and caribbean received the enslaved africans. european powers such as portugal, england, spain, france, the netherlands, denmark, sweden, and brandenburg, as well as traders from brazil and north america, took part in this trade.
- the enslaved africans came mostly from eight regions: senegambia, upper guinea, windward coast, gold coast, bight of benin, bight of biafra, west central africa and southeastern africa
- the total number of african deaths directly attributable to the middle passage voyage is estimated at up to two million. for two hundred years, 14401640, portuguese slavers had a near monopoly on the export of slaves from africa.
- african kings, warlords and private kidnappers sold captives to europeans who held several coastal forts. the captives were usually force-marched to these ports along the western coast of africa, where they were held for sale to the european or american slave traders in the barracoons.
- typical slave ships contained several hundred slaves with about thirty crew members. most contemporary historians estimate that between 9.4 and 12 million africans arrived in the new world.disease and starvation due to the length of the passage were the main contributors to the death toll with amoebic dysentery and scurvy causing the majority of deaths.
- . it was the center point of the triangle trade that exchanged european goods for slaves, then sold the slaves to the colonies for raw materials to take back to europe to make more goods to trade.it brought a cheap labor force - in the form of slaves - to the new world which made raw materials cheaper in europe and bolstered trade around the world. it was also responsible for the deaths of millions of africans and the enslavement of millions more.
