TheMiddlePassage

__The Middle Passage__ The Middle Passage is the difficult journey from Africa to America. The slaves that were taken to America had already survived the journey from the interior parts of Africa, and they thought that they had already been through the roughest part, but they were very wrong. Once the slaves reached the outer shores of Africa, they were kept in the dungeons of the slave factories for weeks, months, and sometimes even years. They were then taken onto big boats that were full of slaves just like them; all afraid and not knowing of what was going to come. The ships were very crowded and all of the slaves had absolutely no privacy or personal space. These trips were especially hard for the women because the sailors would take advantage of them. Most of the slaves had decided that they would rather die then keep going on this journey and live their lives as slaves. Some tried even to commit suicide, but since the slaves were so valuable, they were not aloud to even attempt. If they tried to starve themselves, they would be tortured or force fed so there was no chance of them dying that way. The conditions were almost impossible to live in; there was no space and every where below the deck was crowded with slaves. The Middle Passage was a difficult journey but it was nothing compared to what the would have to endure on the plantations. Picture From- http://www.jungnewyork.com/images/iaap1.jpg Picture From- http://americanabolitionist.liberalarts.iupui.edu/slave_deck.jpg

media type="youtube" key="phXHc2VwpzE" height="344" width="425" Here is a video about the middle passage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phXHc2VwpzE&feature=PlayList&p=40A76F110CAA1EE2&index=1