Atlantic shipment

After being captured and held in the factories, slaves entered the infamous Middle Passage . Meltzer's research puts this phase of the slave trade's overall mortality at 12.5 %. [ 59 ] Around 2. 2 million Africans died during these voyages where they were packed into tight, unsanitary spaces on ships for months at a time. Measures were taken to stem the onboard mortality rate such as enforced "dancing" (as exercise) above deck and the practice of force-feeding enslaved people who tried to starve themselves. [ 48 ] The conditions on board also resulted in the spread of fatal diseases. Other fatalities were the result of suicides by jumping over board by slaves who could no longer endure the conditions. [ 48 ] The slave traders would try to fit anywhere from 350 to 600 slaves on one ship. Before the shipping of enslaved people was completely outlawed in 1853 , 15.3 million enslaved people had arrived in the Americas. Raymond L. Cohn, an economics professor whose research has focused on economic history and