USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -In bad weather the oppressive heat and noxious fumes in the unventilated and unsanitary holds caused fevers and dysentery, with a high mortality rate. Deaths during the Middle Passage, caused by epidemics, suicide, “fixed melancholy, ” or mutiny, have been estimated at 13 percent.

Detailed explanation-2: -The Middle Passage itself lasted roughly 80 days on ships ranging from small schooners to massive, purpose-built “slave ships.” Ship crews packed humans together on or below decks without space to sit up or move around. Without ventilation or sufficient water, about 15% grew sick and died.

Detailed explanation-3: -Epidemics of fever, dysentery (the ‘flux’) and smallpox were frequent. Captives endured these conditions for about two months, sometimes longer. In good weather the captives were brought on deck in midmorning and forced to exercise.

Detailed explanation-4: -At “best", the enslavers fed enslaved people beans, corn, yams, rice, and palm oil. However, enslaved African people were not always fed every day. If there was not enough food for the sailors (human traffickers) and the slaves, the enslavers would eat first, and the enslaved might not get any food.

Detailed explanation-5: -Despite the captain’s desire to keep as many slaves as possible alive, Middle Passage mortality rates were high. Although it’s difficult to determine how many Africans died en route to the new world, it is now believed that between ten and twenty percent of those transported lost their lives.