The Middle Passage

The layout of the ships used had two layers of African slaves all packed tightly together in dirty and rough conditions. These slaves were packed so closely together because transporting large ships across the Atlantic cost a lot of money and the Portuguese wanted to limit the amount of money spent on these slaves.

The First Passage was the transportation of captives (slaves) to the African ports, such as Elmina, where they would be loaded onto ships. The Final Passage was the journey from the port of disembarkation, such as Charleston, to the plantation or other destination where they would be put to work.

During their journey, the slaves were forced to wear tight and heavy metal shackles. These weighed the slaves down and made it ven harder for the slaves in their long journey. They were attached to the slaves and the floor.

The sorrows of Yamba was a poem written by Hannah More to show the English people what was actually happening to the slaves who were riding on the boats through the middle passage. It was made to show people what rough conditions these slaves were going through and why so many of them were diene

Olaudah Equiano was an African who boarded one of the ships through the middle passage. He luckily survived his journey and wrote up his experiences in his autobiography. He quotes “I had never seen among my people such instances of brutal cruelty.” This shows just how bad the slaves were treated.