The middle passage was the journey between West Africa and the West Indies. The slaves were boarded on the ships here. Slavers waited until they were out of sight of land before allowing the saves on the deck because the slavers “tight packed” their ships this meant that the slaves were crammed together in one room and had a limited amount of space to move. Doing this was illegal. The slavers would also board their ships with fresh water, fruit, and meat which they had bought from West Africa. This food would last them the journey.
Many slaves did not survive the journey from West Africa to the West Indies across the Atlantic. Chained together by their hands and feet, the slaves had very little room to move. Estimated about half the slaves only survived the journey. Many slaves died of diseases such as scurvy and smallpox. Others committed suicide by refusing to eat.
Once the slaves had come of the ships, plantation owners would be gathered to bid for the slaves. The slaves would be traded for cotton, sugar, and tobacco they would become slaves for the rest of their lives. The slaves were told to work on a plantation which was land bought by the Europeans, on these plantations grew tobacco, rice, and sugar cane. Slaves were in the field from sunset to sunrise. Men and women worked equal amounts. Pregnant women were told to work until their baby was born. The West Indies made immense amounts of profit by doing this was because they were making slaves work on fields for no money. The raw materials produced were then sent to Britain to be manufactured. The slave trade was known as the triangular trade.
Many white British and Europeans were in favour of the slave trade. Britain only supported the slave trade because they were making vast amounts amount of money by trading. This was because the goods that the brought from West Africa were sold to other countries for a higher price. If Britain stopped trading the slave trade would stop because Britain transported 60% of the slaves. The only reason slaves were traded in West Africa was that West Africa was a poor country. The chiefs in West Africa wanted more power and riches and by trading they were gaining this power and riches. Another reason was that there was a very long history of slave trade in Africa many people thought that it was fine to trade people. The West Indies wanted to make money like the other countries involved in the trade. Buying slaves from the Africans meant that they would not have to give them wages. With the profits that the West Indies made they bought more slaves this meant that there were more people to work on the plantations so more produce was being made. Much of the land in the West Indies was owned buy the British which intended them to buy salves to work on the land. A further reason was that there was a great demand for sugar in the U.K as most of the food contained sugar.
The slave had many social and economic effects on Britain. One effect was that more factories and businesses had to be set up to manufacture the goods now more jobs were available for the unemployed. Gradually the standards of living started to as more people had jobs they could afford better homes. More sugar was being imported into Britain which led to the changes in people diet because all the raw materials were coming from different countries people could interact with different people and learn new skills.
In West Africa many lives had changed from being bad to good. The African chiefs and kings were among these people. They would kidnap villagers and sell them to traders by doing this they were making their lives better but ruining others. Once the African villagers had been kidnapped they would become slaves for the rest of their lives. Estimated about half the population of West Africa were slaves because of this the population dropped dramatically.
The West Indies made immense amounts of money this improved the living standards of the people. The death rate of slaves was so high that plantation owners encouraged slaves to have children from the age of thirteen, more slaves were being produced without any costs. Some women slaves had 15 children they were told that if they had children they would be freed and would not have to work as we know this was not true. The trading was with other countries so many people learnt new skills.
The long term effects of the slave trade were that the population of the Black Africans decreased this meant there were less workers working in Africa. Another effect was on Britain which was that the profit made by the slave trade changed the way Britain was it had become more of an Industrial site. A long term effect on the West Indies was that the population increase because of all the Black slaves coming into the country.
The slave trade changed many peoples lives especially the people that were captured to become slaves. The slave trade enforced segregation to happen in many parts of Africa. All people should be treated the same it shouldn’t make a difference because of what your skin colour is. I don’t think that the slave trade was a fair thing to do to get money. African people should not have had to suffer just because some people thought it was okay to trade in humans.
