The Middle Passage refers to the stage of the transatlantic slave trade in which enslaved Africans were transported by ship from Africa across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. It was the second of three legs that made up the triangular trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
In the triangular trade system:
The first leg carried manufactured goods (textiles, firearms, rum, metal goods) from Europe to the West African coast, where they were exchanged for enslaved people.
The Middle Passage - the second leg - transported the enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, Brazil, and North America.
The third leg carried raw materials and commodities (sugar, tobacco, cotton, rum) from the Americas back to Europe.
Conditions on the Middle Passage were notoriously brutal. Enslaved people were packed into the holds of ships in inhumane conditions, with inadequate food, water, and sanitation. Disease, malnutrition, and violence led to high mortality rates during the crossing, which typically lasted six to eight weeks. The Middle Passage is one of the most harrowing chapters of the transatlantic slave trade, which lasted from the 16th to the 19th century.
The trans-Saharan trade route connected North Africa with sub-Saharan Africa overland and is an entirely different trade network. The Silk Road linked Europe and Asia. The Middle Passage is specifically and exclusively associated with the Atlantic slave trade.
