Captive Passage
has been made
possible in part by:

Recognition of
additional sponsors
for this exhibition
can be found by
clicking on
ExhibitionSponsors.

This Web site
was written by:

Mark Arduini
Bill Cogar
Kim Gove
Anna Holloway
Julia Hotton
Anne Marie Millar
Tracey Neikirk
David Rieger
Rhonda Todd
Barbara Wright
Randy Wyatt

Special thanks to
Joan Allison
for her assistance
in compiling
the Bibliography.

Middle Passage

Sea Chart Depicting the Middle Passage

The Middle Passage was the journey of slave ships across the Atlantic Ocean, accounting for the Diaspora of millions of Africans to the Americas. The time a ship took to make the Middle Passage depended upon several factors including its point of origin in Africa, the destination in the Americas, and conditions at sea such as winds, currents, and storms. With good conditions and few delays, a 17th-century Portuguese slave ship typically took 30 to 50 days to sail from Angola to Brazil. British, French, and Dutch ships transporting slaves between Guinea and their Caribbean island possessions took 60 to 90 days. A century or so later, larger merchant ships came into use in the trade and reduced these times somewhat.