When I was in public school, I remember the history teacher teaching us about the Atlantic slave trade and Middle Passage but don’t remember all the details. It is possible that the teachers didn’t know the complex history or could only teach part of the truth. It is also possible that I blocked some of the information because living in the segregated South was a painful reminder of how chattel slavery began. We felt that we were still living in a different type of slavery.
There are many misconceptions about the background of how slaves were brought to America. According to historians, the Atlantic slave trade or Trans-Atlantic slave trade, involved transporting enslaved Africans from Central and West Africa to the Americas. It expanded across three continents, America, Europe and Africa. Approximately 10 to 12 million Africans were transported across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas during the 16th to 19th century. There was a high demand for cheap labor and European workers did not survive the conditions on the plantations.
Author C.L. Lincoln provided a valuable lesson in history in his book, The Negro Pilgrimage in America. Lincoln wrote that initially slaves were not identified with a certain race or group of people. The first known slaves were prisoners of war. Over time, slavery underwent changes in style. After European colonies expanded, Africa became a prime source for slave labor needed to fill labor demands in the New World. Europeans made contact with the political kingdoms on the west coast of Africa and these kingdoms supplied them with slaves. Slavery in Africa was different from slavery in America. The enslaved people were prisoners, debtors and prisoners of war from other tribes. Some were permitted to move freely and some owned property. The coastal empires engaged in periodic wars with the inland people, who were weaker in political and military organization. Wars lead to casualties and prisoners were taken on a small scale. The only way Africans could acquire firearms was through the slave trade. Before European contact, there is no evidence that the sale of slaves was an established practice.
Some historians believe that the Trans-Atlantic slave trade was initiated by the Portuguese through slave raids along the coast of Africa. Slave wars did not begin until Europeans began to purchase slaves for commercial purposes. The traders supplied the slave raiders with ammunition and guns and encouraged even larger raids to meet the needs of the growing slave markets in America. What had been a system of limited political warfare quickly became organized systems of raids to capture Africans to be sold on the coast to European traders. Europeans developed a system across continents and created an international economic system.
Prior to 1619, more than a half million Africans were captured and enslaved in Brazil. The majority were enslaved by the Portuguese, British, French and Dutch. British slave traders transported approximately 3.5 million Africans to the Americas. In the 1480’s Portuguese ships transported Africans to be used as slaves on sugar plantations. After 1502, Spanish conquerors took African slaves to the Caribbean. Lincoln wrote that Portuguese and Spanish slave holders helped preserve the African culture in their colonies.
According to Lincoln, in the 1700’s, slaves were taken in large numbers from developed West Africa. West Africans were desired for their highly-skilled labor potential, craftsman and artisan skills. In South America, Catholicism was the dominate religion and religious instruction were given to the enslaved people. The church helped reduce illiteracy and helped the enslaved Africans adapt to their new and hostile environment. The church encouraged marriages between Iberian colonists and black and Native American women. By 1630, Africans had established a successful state, the Republic of Palmares, in Brazil. This town remains in existence today.
To meet the massive demand for labor, Europeans packed their ships with local goods and commodities from Asia to trade on the African coast. Europeans rewarded Africans for kidnapping other Africans. The slave trade was based on power and economics. African traders made specific demands for European goods in exchange for African captives. They were exchanged for textiles, liquor, firearms and other products. The majority of the wealth generated by the transatlantic slave trade supported the creation of industries in North America and Europe.
The First Passage was the transportation of enslaved Africans to the African ports where they would be loaded onto ships. Slaves were forced to travel by foot while chained together from inland Africa to the coast. They were held in slave castles while waiting on the ships. Approximately 80 thousand died. The survivors were forced to board the tightly packed ship into a massive dark dungeon. The men were below deck and women and children were above deck. The Middle passage was the slave ship route that brought enslaved Africans to America. It was the middle leg of the triangle trade between Europe, Africa and the Americas during the Atlantic Slave Trade. The Final Passage was the journey from the port of disembarkation to the plantations where they would be put to work. Voyages on the Middle Passage were organized by groups of investors rather than individuals.
This barbaric trade system lasted from 1500’s to 1800’s. Over time, approximately 10 to 12 million Africans were forcibly transported to the New World as part of the Atlantic Slave trade. Ships departed Europe for African markets with goods that were traded for kidnapped Africans. They were transported across the Atlantic as slaves, sold or traded for crude or processed materials, which would be transported back to Europe to complete the voyage. Approximately 2 million Africans died on this long 80 day journey.
The triangle trade was a three way trade between Europe to Africa, Africa to North America, and North America to Europe. In short, it was a trade between three ports or regions. The purpose was to bring goods from overseas that were in high demand and trade them for goods that would be more expensive if sold overseas.
The slave traded used the triangular trade route and it’s Middle Passage. The Middle Passage was a leg of the triangular route between Europe, The Middle Passage was known for its brutality and over-crowed and unsanitary conditions on slave ships. Hundreds of Africans were chained together and packed tightly for the 5,000 mile voyage. Many died aboard the ship from disease and poor health. Other’s jumped overboard. Many others died from tropical diseases and hard work within a few months of arriving on the plantations. There were slave revolts aboard ship but the unarmed slaves were no match for their cruel captors. Most of the enslaved people were from Central and West Africa.
After reaching the Americas, the ship crews prepared the Africans for sale. Bruises and sores caused by conditions on board the ships were disguised. Slaves who were judged to be disobedient or difficult were sent to “seasoning camps.” The slaves were tortured for the purpose of “breaking them,” as one would break a horse. They were stripped of their identities and forced to adapt to new customs. Many died in the camps. Those who were too weak or ill were left to die. The others found ways to preserve their dignity by appearing to conform.
Lincoln wrote that by 1782, the black slave population in Virginia was around 260,000. Approximately 7,500 people a year arrived by ship. He wrote, “For the more enlightened colonial leaders, the fight against slavery was part of the fight for basic freedom. Benjamin Franklin raised a powerful voice against slavery. In 1774, Thomas Jefferson wrote a statement that all colonies wanted slavery abolished. Because of the efforts of Franklin and Jefferson, the Continental Congress agrees to bar the importation of slaves after December 1, 1775.”
Lincoln wrote, “While the Continental Congress was drafting the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson submitted to that body what John Adams called a “vehement” denunciation of slavery, but Jefferson failed to convince Congress to make abolition a part of the historic 1776 document.”
Slavery started in 1619 in Jamestown VA, and ended on paper in 1865 when the 13th amendment was ratified. Slavery in America lasted 246 years. At the end of the Civil War, slavery and involuntary servitude were abolished except as punishment for a crime. This opened the door for a different kind of slavery called prison labor.
In my next blog, read about the cultural background of the African slaves who were brought to America.
Francie Mae. December 19, 2020.
References
Atlantic Slave Trade. Wikipedia. Accessed December 16, 2020.
Black History: Inside the Seasoning Camps.Website. April 1, 2008 12:09 p.m. Accessed December 16, 2020.
C. Eric Lincoln. November 1967. The Negro Pilgrimage In America. Bantam Pathfinder Books.