Middle Passage Stations

Name:___________________________________________________Date:________________Period:________________
Station 1
Directions: Take your folder and step out into the hall way. Read the document that describes what
kind of food the Africans were eating and how much space they had to stand. Then answer the
questions below. Next, follow the directions on seeing exactly how much room there was on board
of a slave ship. Once you have experienced it answer the questions on your experience.
Alexander Falconbridge
1.) Why did the slaves have to lie only on their sides?
2.) Why were European slavers packing the slaves so tightly together?
3.) What would happen to slaves who refused to eat?
4.) Why do you think they tortured slaves who did not want to eat?
Experiencing the space:
5.) How comfortable were you with the amount of space you were given on the slave ship?
6.) Do you think you could have survived the Middle Passage?

Station 2
Background Reading:
1.) Describe the conditions on the decks where the slaves were kept.
2.) What were the causes of slave deaths aboard the slave ships? List at least 2 causes of death.
3.) Do you think the crews on slave ships wanted to hurt the slaves? Why or why not? List 1 thing
that would prompt the crew to kill a slave.

Jumping Overboard:
4.) Why do you think some slaves wanted to jump overboard?
5.) What did the sailors do to the slave who they rescued from drowning? Why do you think they
did that to him?

Station 3
1.) What drove the European interest in slaves from Africa? (Reading)
2.) How did the charts author determine the mortality rate of each voyage?
3.) What factors do you think might make a mortality rate higher or lower on a voyage?
4.) Why might the ship Nancy have had a mortality rate of 100%?
5.) What is the estimated overall mortality rate of the Middle Passage?

Station 4
1.) How did Alexander Falconbridge attribute poor weather to an increase in disease?
2.) Describe how many and what an air-port looked like.
3.) What types of diseases would spread?
4.) Why did the interior of the slave ship look like a slaughter-house?