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Roughly 10-15% of Africans did not survive the middle passage, resulting in a mortality rate of about 85-90%.
The second phase of the triangle trade involved the transportation of enslaved Africans from Africa to the Americas to be sold as laborers on plantations. This phase was known as the Middle Passage.
The middle passage of the transatlantic slave trade typically lasted around 6-8 weeks, depending on the specific route and conditions. Slaves were packed tightly into ships and endured harsh and overcrowded conditions during the journey from Africa to the Americas.
Olaudah Equiano is a well-known enslaved African who described the horrors of the middle passage in his autobiography "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano." He provided a detailed account of the brutal conditions on the slave ships during the transatlantic journey.
Slave traders viewed slaves as property to be bought and sold for profit. Treating them as cargo was a way to maximize their own financial gain. The inhuman conditions on the Middle Passage were often justified by the mindset that slaves were expendable and replaceable.
The points of no return in the transatlantic slave trade were when captured Africans were transported from Africa to the Americas. Once they were forcibly taken from their homes and embarked on the slave ships, often enduring harsh conditions and cruelty, their lives were irreversibly changed. The Middle Passage, the second leg of the journey, marked a crucial point of no return as many enslaved individuals did not survive the brutal voyage.