Blog #3, Chapter 14

In chapter 14, it talks about about the slave trade and how the middle passage came about. The slave trade was clearly the chief cause of this and from that point on the slaves were for sale on the African coast to the massive use of slave labor on the American planation. Also, something interested that I read was The Atlantic Slave Trade which was represented an enormous extension of the ancient practice of people owning and selling other people. In this trade coming about, there was an estimation of 12.5 million people from Africa that were shipped across the Atlantic for the infamous Middle Passage. There was about 1.8 million slaves that died during the transatlantic crossing. Another thing that was interesting is that Russia authorities imposed a tax payable in furs, on every Siberian male between the age of 18 to 50 years old. This enforcement was to make a payment of the hostages that they took from Siberian societies and with the death was an outcome if the furs were not forthcoming to them.

Lastly, the Middle Passage was basically men and women were forced beneath the deck into the bowels of the slave ship. The captives lay down on unfinished planking with virtually no room to move or breathe. It was an uncomfortable and for the slaves. Some slaves died of diseases, some of starvation, and other simply of despair. The Middle Passage was brought to the slaves from West Africa to the west Indies. Accordingly, the west indies slaves were treated a little better as in they were fed and cleaned in hopes of bringing a high price on the block, but those slaves that could not be sold were left for dead. Furthermore, as in Asia, they became involved in transporting Africans goods, including slaves, from one African port to another.