Slavery+in+the+American+Colonies

The middle passage was a triangular path in the Atlantic Ocean. It traveled from the east coast, to the gold coast of Africa, to Europe and then back to the east coast. Slaves were put on the boats with terrible living conditions for many weeks at a time. They were kept below deck at night to sleep on wooden boards. Inside of the ship as a result of of the slaves sweating and vomiting the air was always filled with a stench giving the slaves sicknesses or just making them weaker. Due to the bad living conditions the death toll on the ships was immense. During the day the slaves would sing to give them hope, but most slaves would either die on the ships or they would live the rest of their lives as slaves in America. There were a few instances where the ships were too much for the slaves to handle and they rebelled against the white crew. Most of the rebellions, although leaving many slaves dead, were successful and had a large impact on the course of the ship.
 *  The middle passage and life on the boats **

Whipping, hanging, selling, or any other kind of torture punished slaves. When there were slave rebellions on ships the crew would through the living rebellious slaves into the ocean were they would be left to die. The slaves would be punished for stealing, rebelling, trying to run away, or not working to their full potential. Slaves had to follow a series of codes called slave codes. Some of these codes said that all slaves could not do anything without the consent of their owner and that slaves have to do anything that the owners told them to do. If they did not follow slave codes they would be punished severely.
 * Slave punishment**

During colonial times there were many people who believed that slavery was bad, but there were more people who wanted it because it would help the southern economy in a large way. The first known legal slave in the American colonies was a man named John Pouch in the year of 1640. Slaves were controlled by a series of laws called slave codes.Acording to the book //The Politics of Slavery by Linda Altman,// The first slave code was passed in 1705 saying that "slaves within this domain...shall be held as real estate". Meaning that slaves were thought as and treated like property.by 1750 slavery was legal in eleven of the thirteen colonies.
 * Legalizing slavery**

Living conditions in the American colonies was bad. Slaves lived in cramped slave shacks. They slept on hay or wooden mattresses. They were fed mush and drank a limited amount of water each day. Sometimes when slaves were working out in the fields they would suck on rocks to make it feel like they were eating. Slaves received a pair of shoes and a shirt or other simple clothing once a year that were made of old rags of any other scraps cloth. If slaves tried to take things to make their lives a little bit better they would be punished. media type="youtube" key="HOSqo5IB-BQ" height="344" width="425"[][]
 * Living conditions for slaves in American colonies**

**a map of the middle passage**
 * slaves on a ship in the middle pasage**