The Middle Passage

The transatlantic slave trade consisted in the forced migration of enslaved African people mainly to the Americas. The slave trade existed from the 16th to the 19th centuries and regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Passage. We created a series of digital artefacts, ranging from an impactful video to an interactive map, to provide a deeper understanding of the transatlantic slave trade and its magnitude.

 

The resulting artefacts are compiled in the following webpage: https://middlepassage.info

 
 

Video

 

The video combines key historical facts about the Middle Passage and a series of novel visualisations. In these visualisations, we focus on the number of enslaved people who were taken from Africa, the paths of the ships that transported enslaved people across the Atlantic over the time, and the immensity of those ships and their nations.

 

 

Screenshot of the visualisation that shows the cumulative number of enslaved people taken from Africa.
Figure 1

Screenshot of the visualisation that shows the cumulative number of enslaved people taken from Africa.

 

Screenshot of the visualisation that shows the paths of the ships that transported enslaved people across the Atlantic, over time.
Figure 2

Screenshot of the visualisation that shows the paths of the ships that transported enslaved people across the Atlantic, over time.

 

Detail of the visualisation that shows all ships that transported enslaved people across the Atlantic.
Figure 3

Detail of the visualisation that shows all ships that transported enslaved people across the Atlantic.

 
 

Interactive Map

 

The interactive map allows the users to visualise the paths of the ships that transported enslaved people across the Atlantic. This way, users interactively can visualize the voyages, over time, and the data about the slave ships and people that cross them.

 

Screenshot of the interactive map that shows all the passages that occurred between 1510 and 1869.
Figure 4

Screenshot of the interactive map that shows all the passages that occurred between 1510 and 1869.

 

Screenshot of the interactive map that shows the passages that arrived at Rio de Janeiro in 1720.
Figure 5

Screenshot of the interactive map that shows the passages that arrived at Rio de Janeiro in 1720.

 

Screenshot of the interactive map that shows the passages and its information that came from Malembo to Curação between 1760 and 1769.
Figure 6

Screenshot of the interactive map that shows the passages and its information that came from Malembo to Curação between 1760 and 1769.

 
 

Credits

 

This work results from a partnership between the Centre for Informatics and Systems of the University of Coimbra, Instituto Pedro Nunes and Fundação Cupertino de Miranda.

 

The created artefacts are based on data from the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database, which is hosted by Emory University and contains data about more than 36,000 slaving expeditions.

 

An extended version of the video shown above is part of the permanent exhibition Torre Literária, at Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal.

 

Special thanks to Alexandre Matos / FBA.

Author

Tiago Martins

Jéssica Parente

Evgheni Polisciuc