Final answer:
The Middle Passage was the transatlantic journey that enslaved Africans made to America. It was a horrific and dehumanizing experience, with high mortality rates. The exact number of enslaved people transported is unknown but believed to be over ten million.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Middle Passage was a part of the Atlantic Triangle Trade network, which transported captured Africans from Africa to the Americas. It was a horrific and dehumanizing experience for the enslaved Africans. They were segregated by sex, chained together, and kept in tight quarters for most of the day. Many slaves died during the Middle Passage, with estimates suggesting a mortality rate of 12-13 per cent. The exact number of people enslaved and brought to the Americas is unknown but believed to be larger than ten million.
The slave trade inherently began with a forced march to coastal slave-trading factories and did not end with the transatlantic voyage. Upon arrival in the Americas, the enslaved faced 'seasoning'—a period of acculturation—and were then sent to work in plantations or other labour-intensive environments. The extent of the atrocity of the Middle Passage cannot be overstated and remains a crucial subject of study in the history of slavery.