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In his personal narrative, Olaudah Equiano recounts his kidnapping, enslavement, and life in freedom.

"The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us."

Equiano dedicated his life to advocating against slavery and published this narrative to help illustrate the horrors of this system.

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Ships used to transport about 12.5 million enslaved African Americans from Africa to America

Used from 1500-1866 (transatlantic slave trade: Europeans bought Africans & brought them across the Atlantic Ocean to earn profit)

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Ranged in size from 10 tons (holding 30 enslaved Africans) to 566 tons (holding 700 enslaved Africans)

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Part of the "Triangle Trade," connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

From 1560 to 1850 approximately 4% of the 12.5M Africans transported along the Middle Passage, arrived in North America.

Between 1700 and 1808, the most active years, merchants transported around 40% of enslaved Africans in British and American ships.

Lasted roughly 80 days on ships ranging from small schooners to massive, purpose-built "slave ships."

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Enslaved were often prisoners of war/committed small crimes or were simply kidnapped

Many separated from family

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What Were the Conditions on These Ships?

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What Were the Conditions on These Ships?

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Extremely crowded (hundreds packed in the lower deck)

Lower deck divided into two compartments by gender

Men shackled, women confined

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Captain & crew of ship had their own cabin space

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Slave ship diagram depicting the tightly packed lower deck where enslaved Africans were confined to stay. 

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A trader "stated that after remaining ten minutes in the hold, his shirt was as wet as if it had been in a bucket of water... So close and foul was the stench" (Wolfe 1).

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Outbreaks of smallpox & dysentery

20% death rate during the first few decades of the slave trade & dropped to 10% after Europeans attempted to "improve" conditions

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Many Africans committed suicide by jumping off the sides (which led to captains hanging nets on the sides of the boats to catch them)

Some crew members also committed suicide due to diseases, lack of quality food, & punishments from officers (whippings)

Some Africans revolted by refusing to eat & planning uprisings,

Majority did not partake in these uprisings since the crew had lots of weapons

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portrait of: Alexander Falconbridge, Surgeon

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Dr. Alexander Falconbridge served as surgeon aboard a number of slave ships in the late 1700s.

He later became active in anti-slavery work. The following is excerpted from his book, An Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of Africa:

"The deck, that is the floor of their rooms, was so covered with the blood and mucus which had proceeded from them in consequence of the flux, that it resembled a slaughter-house. It is not in the power of the human imagination to picture a situation more dreadful or disgusting…"

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Often forced into this job due to debt/issues with the law

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Sailor and abolitionist Austin Bearse recounts his time shipping enslaved Africans in the southern states in his book, Reminiscences of Fugitive-Slave Law Days in Boston:

"We used to allow the relatives and friends of the slaves to come on board and stay all night with their friends, before the vessel sailed. In the morning it used to be my business to pull off the hatches and warn them that it was time to separate, and the shrieks and cries at these times were enough to make anybody's heart ache."

Though not referring specifically to the Middle Passage across the Atlantic Ocean, Bearse's account gives further insight into New England's complicity with slavery and the slave trade and the horrors experienced by its victims.

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Punished with thumbscrews (torture device), whippings

Food strikes met with a speculum oris device (shaped like scissors, forced the jaws open)

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Enslaved Africans visually malnourished while traveling through The Middle Passage.

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As a major port city, Boston had a role in global economy

The first slave trade voyage from the American colonies sailed out of Massachusetts:

Desire left Salem in 1637, carrying Native American captives from the Pequot War to be sold as slaves in the Caribbean.

When it returned with the first known Africans imported into the northern English colonies, it most likely anchored in Boston.

After this documented case of enslavement, Massachusetts legalized the enslavement of Africans, Native Americans, and mixed-race people in the colony's Body of Liberties.

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A local ad for slaves: "Just imported from Africa, and to be Sold at No. 19 on the Long Wharf, A Parcel of likely, heathy (sic) Negro Slaves."

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Local newspapers carried over 1,000 ads for the sale of enslaved people during the 1700s

It is estimated that 166 transatlantic voyages embarked out of Boston

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Boston was also a major exporter of rum, likely made from sugar produced in the Caribbean and sometimes sold in exchange for enslaved Africans

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Map showing the primary movement of Enslaved Africans, raw materials, and manufactured goods. The red-paths are those typical for slave-trade.

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1808: Britain & United States agreed to ban the transatlantic slave trade.

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Transatlantic slave trade was used to justify the enslavement & racism towards African Americans

Racism is largely prominent today due to the societally shaped belief that Africans are inferior

Due to this, African Americans tend to have less health care, education, and access to justice compared to white people

Large divide between wealthy whites & poor black communities

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Diagram explaining the connection between structural racism and the impacts on people of colors' health access and wellness. 