The trip taken by slaves across the Atlantic Ocean was called what?
1 Answer
The Middle Passage
Explanation:
The Middle passage was the middle leg of a three section voyage.
The first was shipping manufactured goods from Europe to West Africa which were traded for slaves. The slaves were then transported to the Caribbean. This was the Middle Passage. The Ships were then loaded with raw materials available there such as: cotton, sugar, coffee, indigo, rice to make the final leg back to Europe.
The slaves, those who survived, were sold to plantation owners, acclimatized and set to work in plantations in the Caribbean. These "seasoned" slaves were often resold to North or South America. After about 1740 Slaves were sent straight to South America and seasoned by their owners on the mainland. Various local importation laws created increasing difficulties in importing Slaves to North America. The North American slave population became self sustaining.
The Middle passage ships were operated by groups of Financiers in Europe and America rather than individuals.
