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Over the course of four centuries of the slave trade operation, two hundred and sixty-nine lives perished between these four Middle Passage journeys alone. The Atlantic ocean is a mass grave for the millions of lives lost on the other 20,524 voyages between the 16th and the 19th century (Kahn and Bouie). According to Historian and professor Mark Rediker, death was such a daily occurrence that sharks changed their migration patterns to follow the routes of slave vessels . The grueling conditions aboard slave vessels, the harsh use of force, and pure human greed led to destruction of many lives of both the crew and the enslaved. A slave ship captain aboard the Hannibal reported that many of his men died of flux, a gastrointestinal virus that reaped havoc on the body. It was the cruelness of the treatment of the enslaved in particular that led to the spread of disease. Alexander Falconbridge, a doctor who accompanied crew aboard slave vessels recalled the stowe passage of slaves resembled a slaughterhouse from all the mucus and blood on the floor. Enslaved Africans laid together shackled at their neck and limbs, naked unable to use the restroom and forced to lay in their own mess. Many refused to eat, to which Falconbridge reported that crewmen threatened to burn their lips to force them to eat food to survive the journey. At times people became so sick that the ship's captain would try to throw them overboard and make insurance claims to cash out their losses, as did the captain of the Zong in the 1780s. As stated so eloquently by professor of slavery, Trevor Burnard "Black people suffered greatly [and died] for White people's enjoyment of sweet things."

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The Will arrived in Jamaica with 287 enslaved Africans in the fall of 1774.

Under the British, slaves endured harsh treatment and less civil liberties compared to generations of enslaved people that lived under Spanish rule. Prior to the Spanish relinquishing control in 1655, many enslaved people were freed by their Spanish masters and established free "Maroon" living communities, a term used to describe free formerly enslaved Afro-Caribbeans in New Spain ("Jamaica").

Under British colonial rule enslaved people mainly worked on sugar plantations, which were cultivated and harvested in Jamaica, and then shipped to England to be consumed by the masses of society. (Burnard)

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The S Maarten van Rossen's Arrival in Jamaica

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The S Maarten van Rossen's Arrival in Jamaica

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The S Maarten Van Rossen arrived in Jamaica on December 16, 1661 with 180 Africans according to the Slave Voyages database.

Jamaica was a Spanish colony until 1655, and the Dutch supplied African slave labor for Spanish colonies under the Dutch West India company which made the Netherlands incredibly rich. In return, the Dutch received Iberian agricultural products such as olive oil and fruit. The Spanish Empire and the Dutch developed a mutually symbiotic trading relationship until the British took control of the island. (Antunes and Negrón).

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The Theodore's arrival in Bonny, Nigeria 

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The Theodore's arrival in Bonny, Nigeria 

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The NS Del Rosario's Arrival in the New World

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The NS Del Rosario's Arrival in the New World

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The NS Del Rosario arrived in New Spain sometime in 1586 with 287 enslaved people.  New Spain consisted of the entire territory in the Americas under Spanish rule, with the capital established in Mexico City. New Spain was founded by Hernan Cortes about 60 years prior to the NS Del Rosario's voyage.

While it is unclear precisely where this ship sailed in New Spain based on the data on Slave Voyages, a common port of destination for slave ships in New Spain was in Veracruz, Mexico and in Cartagena, Colombia.

Jesuits were mainly responsible and in charge of day to day slave operations in New Spain. They used Christianity to justify their actions- that they were making both indigenous and African enslaved people more "civilized." Indigenous population was hard to enslave due to their lack of immunity. African enslaved people worked on vast plantations or ranches (Treviño). Men often worked in the fields, while women worked as domestic help in the house such as cooking or nursing. ("African women and descendents")  Slavery operated very differently in New Spain than in other European territories. According to the  La Casta painting from the 18th century, Spain allowed for indigenous, Africans, and Spaniards to mingle together, marry and have children. Additionally,  enslaved Africans, despite the arduous labor and difficult treatment they endured, received judicial protection from the Holy Office to prevent abuse, and provide witness statements to punish masters, although this was rare. (Palmer)

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The Will's arrival in New Calabar, Nigeria 

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The Will's arrival in New Calabar, Nigeria 

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John Simmons' Jr and his crew arrrived in New Calabar, Nigeria sometime in 1774.
Nigeria at this time was not yet an official part of the British empire, but over 80 percent of all slave ships leaving Calabar were from England (Sparks). Additionally, the main ethnic group that was taken as slaves were the Igbo people, even though they weren't the main ethnic group in that region. (Chambers).
The other major ethnic group in Nigeria were the Yoruba and Hausa people. During the late 18th century, one could find a mixture of religions, ethnic groups, and cultures. For example, one of the reigning Sunni muslim caliphates was located in northern Nigeria, known as the Sokoto Caliphate who also captured slaves to work on plantations (McKay). They may have had the option to be freed if they agreed to convert to Islam (Lovejoy).
By mid year 1774, The Will departed Nigeria with 352 enslaved Africans and headed across the Atlantic towards Jamaica.

The most recent GDP (gross domestic product) per capita of Nigeria is 2,065.75 USD in 2022 (World in Data) which is significantly less than their former English colonizer.

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The Theodore left France sometime around 1822, captained by JL Lecuyer, and owned by JP Collins, to the Bight of Biafra, which is modern day Bonny, Nigeria. The ship made two journeys through our its career carrying a total of 404 enslaved Africans.

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On October 7th, 1773, The Will left Liverpool, England for new Calabar, which is in modern day Nigeria. The ship may have only taken one journey carrying a total of 352 enslaved Africans. The ship was owned by Thomas Rumbold, John Simmons s Sr, and his son, John Simmons Jr, who also captained the ship.

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NS del Rosario's arrival in Guinea-Bissau

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NS del Rosario's arrival in Guinea-Bissau

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Sometime after the NS del Rosario left Tenerife island, the ship landed in Portuguese Guinea (modern day Guinea Bissau) to collect slaves who had previously been purchased.

Prior to Portuguese Colonial rule over Guinea, which began in the mid 1400s, this specific region of West Africa had access to several trade routes in existence, mostly controlled by Morocco. Through out this trade route, West Africans traded gold, silk, as well as slaves- who were war captives who lived with their captive families. (Epstein)

Guinea-Bissau was once part of the Mali Kingdom, and was also ruled under the Portuguese Empire in part during the 16th century. Portugal eventually took over the entire region by the 18th century ("Guinea-Bissau Country").

Prior to the slave trade, the Mali empire ruled with military force, which was used later to control the slave trade in this region. The ruling class of the Mali empire were warriors known as Nyancho, who believed they gained their strength from a mythical folklore named "Baleba". ("Kaabu Oral History") Africans in the Mali empire are ethnically Mandinka, which is one of the largest ethnic-inguistic groups in Africa and are predominantly Muslim.

Portuguese explorers first came into contact with the Mali Empire in the mid-1400s, and trade between these regions began in 1440 (Rodney 151).

Juan Martinez and his crew left Senegambia with 325 enslaved Africans aboard his ship and set sail for the Caribbean and New Spain.

According to Our World in Data, the 2020 GDP per

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The S Maarten van Rossen primarily purchased slaves in Benin

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The S Maarten van Rossen primarily purchased slaves in Benin

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The S Maarten van Rossen arrived in Modern Day Southern Benin on February 24th, 1661 to begin trading slaves. This region of Benin used to be part of the Kingdom of Ardra. Slaves were initially bought and captured in the city of Allada. Prior to the slave trade, inhabitants of this region were known as the Aja people. They formed their own kingdom until the late 1600s, a new kingdom called Dahomey had grown and taken over the city, and therefore restricted the slave trade access to that port. By the mid 1700s, Dahomey was able to conquer Allada and sell their war captives as slaves to European Slave traders (Cornevin 105).

The S Maarten van Rossen left Benin with 209 enslaved people and headed to Jamaica on May 18th, 1661.

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17th Century Slave Ship- The S Maarten van Rossen Port of Origin- Netherlands

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17th Century Slave Ship- The S Maarten van Rossen Port of Origin- Netherlands

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The S Maarten van Rossen, captained by Jansen Leendert departed Texel, Netherlands on November 1st, 1660, and set sail for the kingdom of Allada, the port city of Ardr located in modern day southern part of Benin. This was the ship's only documented voyage, and transported a total of 219 Africans to Jamaica.

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16th Century Slave Ship NS del Rosario.  Port of Origin-Tenerife, Spain

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16th Century Slave Ship NS del Rosario.  Port of Origin-Tenerife, Spain

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NS del Rosario left Tenerife, Spain sometime in 1586, led by captain Juan Martinez. Over the course of this ship's career, NS del Rosario completed 59 voyages and transported a total of 11,980 enslaved Africans.
King Phillip II was ruler of Spain in 1586, and ruled under the House of Hapsburg.

This was the height of the Spanish Empire.  King Phillip worked closely with the Portuguese Empire to pay for exploration voyages to the Americas. In 1580, Spain just won a war to succeed Portugal as part of the Spanish empire. During the War of Portuguese Succession- this formed the Iberian Union and established further control over their colonial holdings in the Americans and Africa. (Park) (Schneider).

In early 1586, Juan Martinez and his crew departed for Portuguese Guinea, which is modern day Guinea-Bissau.

As of 2021, the GDP per capita in Spain is 30,103.51 USD. Although Spain's position of power in the slave trade declined in the mid 17th century, much of their wealth was gained from the Slave Trade.