Extreme Human Degradation that Characterized the Middle Passage

Because so much of the slave trade was done illegally it is difficult to estimate the actual numbers of Africans who were shipped as slaves on European vessels. The Middle Passage was at best a voyage that was very unpleasant and dehumanising. At its worst it was an ordeal that led to a slow and painful death.

European ships were loaded with groups of six people chained together with neck and foot shackles. On board, they were put below the decks, placed head to foot, still chained in long rows. Some historians estimate that for every ton of cargo there were four slaves transported. Conditions below deck were horrendous: crowded cargo holds where the air circulation was very bad, unbearable heat, and a chronic lack of adequate supplies of food and water. Most Africans suffered from seasickness and vomited often. The poor food led to widespread diarrhea and these conditions led to the outbreak of diseases like typhoid fever, measles, yellow fever, and smallpox.

The unhealthy conditions were made worse by the common practice of overcrowding a ship in order to maximise profit. The longer the ship was at sea the higher the slave mortality rate. There was never any question that Africans would die during a voyage, only how many. Short voyages, like the run to São Tomé from Benin, could expect a 5 to 10 per cent mortality rate. Longer voyages, like the run to Lisbon from São Tomé might be 30 per cent or higher. Those that survived the voyage were usually reduced to skeletons and many would die from neglect while awaiting customs clearance and sale.

The extreme human degradation that characterised the Middle Passage left many Africans to suffer severe psychological shock. This was compounded by a common fear among the Africans that they had been taken by the Europeans to be eaten, to be made into oil or gunpowder, or that their blood was to be used to dye the red flags of Spanish ships. In fact it was their skill as agricultural laborers, and their adaptability to tropical climates, that were sorely needed in the agricultural economy of the European colonies, an economy based upon the plantation system.