Final answer:
Many captured West Africans never arrived in the Americas due to the fatal conditions experienced during the Middle Passage, with a mortality rate of about 25%.
Step-by-step explanation:
One reason many people captured in West Africa for the Atlantic slave trade never arrived in the Americas is because they died from poor conditions during trans-Atlantic crossings. This period known as the Middle Passage was characterized by deplorable conditions on slave ships, which could result in high mortality rates. Captives faced unimaginable hardships such as cramped spaces, disease, and starvation over the one to two month journey across the Atlantic. Approximately a quarter of all slaves taken died during this harrowing voyage.