Illustration of the Slave Ship Brookes.Overview “European slavers transported mi

Illustration of the Slave Ship Brookes.Overview
“European slavers transported millions of Africans across the ocean in a terrifying journey known as the Middle Passage…Chained in small spaces in the hold, enslaved people could lose so much skin and flesh from chafing against metal and timber that their bones protruded. Other sources detailed rapes, whippings, and diseases like smallpox and conjunctivitis aboard slave ships.
“Middle” had various meanings in the Atlantic slave trade. For the captains and crews of slave ships, the Middle Passage was one leg in the maritime trade in sugar and other semifinished American goods, manufactured European commodities, and enslaved Africans. For the enslaved Africans, the Middle Passage was the middle leg of three distinct journeys from Africa to the Americas. First was an overland journey in Africa to a coastal slave-trading factory, often a trek of hundreds of miles. Second—and middle—was an oceanic trip lasting from one to six months in a slaver. Third was acculturation (known as “seasoning”) and transportation to the American mine, plantation, or other location where enslaved people were forced to labor.
The impact of the Middle Passage on the cultures of the Americas remains evident today. Many foods associated with Africans, such as cassava, were originally imported to West Africa as part of the slave trade and were then adopted by African cooks before being brought to the Americas, where they are still consumed. West African rhythms and melodies live in new forms today in music as varied as religious spirituals and synthesized drumbeats. African influences appear in the basket making and language of the Gullah people on the Carolina coastal islands.
Recent estimates count between eleven and twelve million Africans forced across the Atlantic between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, with about two million deaths at sea as well as an additional several million dying in the trade’s overland African leg or during seasoning. Conditions in all three legs of the slave trade were horrible, but the first abolitionists focused especially on the abuses of the Middle Passage.”
“The SlaveVoyages website is a collaborative digital initiative that compiles and makes publicly accessible records of the largest slave trades in history. Search these records to learn about the broad origins and forced relocations of more than 12 million African people who were sent across the Atlantic in slave ships, and hundreds of thousands more who were trafficked within the Americas. Explore where they were taken, the numerous rebellions that occurred, the horrific loss of life during the voyages, the identities and nationalities of the perpetrators, and much more.”
Assignment Directions
This assignment is due by Saturday at 11:59 P.M.
Watch this video for assistance in completing this assignment.
Access the Slave Voyages website to answer the questions below.
Either submit a file, or in the text entry box below, answer the following questions using FULL sentences (number your responses 1-5):
Click on the “Trans-Atlantic” tab at the top of the page. Then select “Timeline and Chronology” and use the tools found on that page to answer this question: According to the estimates on the table, how many enslaved people were brought (embarked) from Africa to the Americas from the 1500s-1800s? How many survived the journey (disembarked)? How many enslaved people were brought (embarked) to the United States specifically? How many survived the journey (disembarked)? (Hint: you will not need to change any parameters of the table, timeline, or map for “Total,” but you will need to uncheck all boxes except “U.S.A.” for the total for the United States).
Total (All of the Americas):
Embarked:
Disembarked:
United States:
Embarked:
Disembarked:
Are the two numbers the same? Why not? What does this tell you about the “Middle Passage”?
Click on the “Trans-Atlantic” tab at the top of the page. Then select “Timeline and Chronology” and use the tools found on that page to answer this question: in which 100-year period were the most enslaved people brought from Africa to the Americas? (Hint: you can either use the timeline and visually determine this, or go to “Tables” and select “100 year periods” in the “Rows” section at the top.
100-year period:
Based on the content you’ve learned from this class (and previous classes), why do you think the slave trade was most active in the 100-year period you identified in question #2?
To answer this question, from the homepage of Slave Voyages, select “Database” under “Trans-Atlantic” at the top of the page. Click on “Itinerary” at the top of the database display; select “Place where captives were landed,” and then select “Mainland North America.” This will give you a list of possible candidates for answering this question. Click on any voyage that has numbers in the “Captives arrived at first port” column, and use the data there to supply the following information:
Year arrived with slaves:
Vessel name:
Place where vessel’s voyage began:
Principal place where captives were purchased:
Voyage duration, homeport to disembarkation (in days):
Duration of captives’ crossing (in days):
Principal place where captives were landed:
Total captives embarked:
Total disembarked:
We sometimes forget that enslaved people were people, with their own unique identities, not just numbers. The “People of the Atlantic Slave Trade” database can help us with this. After the United States outlawed participation in the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the coastal slave trade still flourished, as enslaved people were forcibly transported to and from different parts of the country. Ship owners were required to keep manifests of their human “cargo,” and this information has been incorporated into the “Oceans of Kinfolk” database. From the homepage, click “People of the Atlantic Slave Trade” and select the “Oceans of Kinfolk” database. Using that database, select two people, one male, one female, and supply the following information:
Person #1
Sex:
Age:
Height:
Racial descriptor:
Ship name:
Enslavers:
Person #2
Sex:
Age:
Height:
Racial descriptor:
Ship name:
Enslavers:
How can the databases and information available on the Slave Voyages website help us understand the history of slavery in a better, new, or different way?
Objectives
Demonstrate the ability to interpret primary and secondary sources and to compose an argument which uses them, as appropriate, for support.
Analyze major political trends, attitudes, conflicts, events, etc. and their historical significance.
Assess the major social and cultural developments, their causes and effect and their historical significance.