According to the passage, the sickness among the slaves during the Middle Passage was caused by unsanitary conditions and filth. The overcrowding, lack of fresh air, loathsome smells, and the presence of filth from the necessary tubs contributed to the horrific situation that led to illness and death among the slaves.
"The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocating us. This produced copious perspirations, so that the air soon became unfit for respiration, from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness among the slaves, of which many died, thus falling victims to the improvident avarice, as I may call it, of their purchasers. This wretched situation was again aggravated by the galling of the chains, now become insupportable; and the filth of the necessary tubs [large buckets for human waste], into which the children often fell, and were almost suffocated. The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying, rendered the whole a scene of horror almost inconceivable."
According to the passage, what caused sickness among the slaves during the Middle Passage?
Malnutrition and lack of food
Seasickness from rough waters
Contaminated drinking water
Unsanitary conditions and filth
1 answer
1 answer