Roots: The Middle Passage | History
1 2017-07-05T09:18:49-07:00 Diana Hope Polley 68715c32e4214b0c1f82d41fd3d4655bf471df1c 5494 1 Historians talk about our changing understanding of the horrors of the slave trade's "middle passage" from Africa to America. #Roots Subscribe for more from ... plain 2017-07-05T09:18:49-07:00 YouTube 2017-02-25T01:00:00.000Z 0IJrhQE6DZk HISTORY Diana Hope Polley 68715c32e4214b0c1f82d41fd3d4655bf471df1cThis page is referenced by:
- 1 2017-07-05T07:52:52-07:00 The West and East Indies 14 I: By writing, they send this cargo plain 2017-09-21T14:56:22-07:00 During the 18th century, Britain and its colonies were heavily involved in trade in both the West and East Indies. The "cargo" mentioned by James's wife refers primarily to human cargo, enslaved Africans brought to the West Indies to work on sugar and other plantations; according to the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, "slaves constituted 80 to 90 percent of the population" in the West Indies. This Slate animated map illustrates the extent of slave trade to the West Indies between 1545-1860, and this brief History Channel video explains what is known as the "middle passage," the journey of slaves to the area. Trade with East India--which included goods such as spices, tea, and opium--was controlled at this time by the British East India Trading Company. This website offers an explanation of how both the West and East Indies (as well as other trading routes) were involved in the transatlantic slave trade.