Middle Passage

Definition

The Middle Passage refers to the part of the trade where Africans, densely packed onto ships, were transported across the Atlantic to the West Indies.

Related terms

Transatlantic Slave Trade: This was a trading system in which goods such as textiles, rum and manufactured goods were shipped from Europe to Africa, slaves from Africa to the Americas, and sugar and cotton from the Americas back to Europe.

Triangular Trade: This is a multilateral system of trading in which a country pays for its imports from one country by its exports to another. In this case, it involved England, West Africa and the West Indies/Americas.

Slave Ships: These were large cargo ships specially converted for the purpose of transporting slaves. They were used during the transatlantic slave trade.