The African Diaspora that resulted from the transatlantic slave trade is referenced frequently in our blog posts. Our particular project relates to the two to six million Africans who did not survive the ocean voyage, and placing markers in their honor at primary Middle Passage ports where Africans arrived. The widespread dispersal of these captured people is illustrated as we survey the history of specific regions: North America, Central America, South America, the Caribbean and Europe. This was not a haphazard occurrence.
Tom Feelings in his book, The Middle Passage, tells of a conversation he had with a Ghanaian friend in the 20th century. The African asked, “What happened to all of you when you were taken away from here?” In this post we answer, “Where did they go?” An indicator of whether the port has any marker acknowledging involvement in the slave trade is noted. The ports are listed by the century and geographical region when the area/nation began its involvement in the African-Atlantic slave trade according to historical record.
15th Century
Europe
Portugal: Lisbon
Spain: Barcelona, Cadiz, Santucar de Barrameda, Seville
16th Century
Europe
England: Bristol, Greenwich, Lancaster (marker), Liverpool, London
France: Bordeaux (marker), La Rochelle, Le Havre, L’Orient, Nantes (marker
planned, 2013)
Holland: Amsterdam, Middleburg, Rotterdam, Texel, Vlissingen
Italy: Genoa
Caribbean
Cuba: Bahia Honda, Banes, Cabanas, Caubarien Banes, Canasi, Cardenas, Cienfuegos, Gaunimar, Havana, Isla de Pinos, Manzanillo, Mantanzas, Muriel, Nuevitas, Puerto Padre, Sagua, San Juan de los Remedios, Santiago de Cuba, Trinidad de Cuba
Hispaniola -Dom.Rep.: Santo Domingo
Haiti: Cayes, Cap-Francais, Cul-de-Sac, Fort Dauphin, Jacmel, Jeremie, Leogane, Monte Christi, Petit-Goave, Port au Prince, Port-de-Paix, St. Marc
Jamaica: Antonia, Black River, Falmouthm Kingston, Lucea, Montego Bay, Port Maria, Port Royal, Savannah-la-Mar
Puerto Rico: San Juan
Central America
Costa Rica:
Salvador:
Guatemala: Santo Tomas
Honduras:
Mexico: Vera Cruz
Nicaragua:
Panama: Paramaribo, Portobello
South America
Argentina: Buenos Aires
Brazil: Baia de Botafogo, Cabo de Buzios, Cabo Frio, Campos, Catuamo, Copacabana, Ilha de Itamaraca, Ilha de Marambaia, Ilha de Paqueta, Ilha de Palmas, Ilha Grande, Joao Pessoa, Macae, Maranhao, Mangaratiba, Marcia, Maria Farinha, Para, Paraiba. Paranagua, Parati, Ponta Negro, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de la Plata, Salvador de Bahia, Santa Catarina, Santos, Sao Sebastiao, Taipu, Ubatuba, Vitoria
Colombia: Cartagena, Rio de la Hacha
Fr. Guyana: Cayenne
Venezuela: Caracas, Cumana, La Guaira, Margarita
United States
Florida: Amelia Island, Key West, Pensacola, St. Augustine
Georgia: Sapelo Bay
S.Carolina: Beaufort (Jamestown), Charleston, Sullivan Island (marker)
17th Century
Caribbean
Antigua: St. John’s
Bahamas: Nassau
Barbados: Bridgetown
Curacao: Willemstad
Grenada: St. George
Guadeloupe: Basse-Terre
Martinique:
Montserrat: Plymouth
Nevis: New Castle
St. Croix: Christiansted
St. Eustatius:
St. Kitts:
St. Lucia:
St. Thomas: Charlotte Amalie
St. Vincent:
Tobago: Zion Hill
Tortola:
Trinidad: Port of Spain
Central America
Belize:
South America
Br. Guyana: Demerara
Suriname: Berbice, Essequibo, Paramaribo
Uruguay: Colonia de Sacramento, Maldonado, Montevideo
United States
Alabama: Mobile
Connecticut: Middletown, New London
Dist. of Col.: Georgetown
Georgia: Jekyll Island, Savannah (marker), Tybee Island
Maryland: Annapolis, Baltimore, Patauxent
Massachusetts: Boston, New Bedford, Salem
New Hampshire: Piscataqua, Portsmouth
New Jersey: Perth Amboy
New York: New York
Pennsylvania: Philadelphia
Rhode Island: Bristo, Newport, Providence
Virginia: Hampton (marker, 2019), Jamestown, Norfolk, Rappahannock, Yorktown
18th Century
Caribbean
Dominica: Roseau, Portsmouth
St. Barts: Gustavia
UnitedStates
Louisiana: New Orleans, La Balise
Mississippi: Biloxi
19th Century
United States
Texas: Deweyville, Galveston, Lake Sabine 2.
The above listing reflects approximately 175 Middle Passage ports in 50 nations where more than twenty-four million Africans arrived over a span of 350 years, the largest forced human migration in the history of man. That these people had no choice and they suffered horribly should cause us to pause for a moment and remember them.
Source: The Atlas of the Transatlantic Slave Trade by David Eltis and David Richardson (2010)