2. 1 Voyage, Pastora de Lima (1817) 3. http://www.slavevoyages.org/tast/assessment/intro-maps.faces#map4 4. http://www.slavevoyages.org/tast/database/search.faces Steve Tomy Primary Source Evaluation
Wind direction and ocean currents played a major role in the creation of two separate slave-trading systems 3 . One system was within the north which included the voyages beginning in Europe and ending in the Caribbean. The other was in the south and included voyages beginning in Brazil and ending in Brazil. There were almost 35000 voyages sailed. Within these 35000, about 12543 voyages 4
followed the northern trade winds and began in Europe and ended in the Caribbean. One such voyage that sailed through the northern trade winds was in 1819. Captain Boucher led the voyage on Rdeur 1 . Rdeur was a slave ship that embarked about 200 slaves in Africa, however only disembarked 160 in the Caribbean, due to 40 slaves dying during the middle passage, giving it a 20.0 death percentage. The Northeast Trades and Westerlies seem to be directed toward opposite directions. However, it is in favor of the ocean currents. Thus, it would make it easy for ships to sail with the ocean current because the wind patterns will help speed up their voyage. Rdeurs journey would be smooth and quick because after starting from Le Havre (France), the ocean current and the Northeast Trades help move the voyage towards their region of slave purchase, Bonny and Bight of Biafra and Gulf of Guinea islands, with ease. Similarly, the Northeast Trades are supportive in returning the vessel back to the Caribbean, Guadeloupe and Basse-Terre, because it is concurrent with the ocean currents. Additionally, the wind flow and ocean current would also help in getting the ship back to where it started. All in all, voyages following the northern trade winds had their safe journeys handed to them. About 8872 voyages 4 followed the southern winds and initiated from Brazil and terminated at Brazil. An example of such voyage took place in 1817. Pastora de Lima 2 was ______________________________________________________________________________ 1. 117 Voyage, Rdeur (1819) 2. 1 Voyage, Pastora de Lima (1817) 3. http://www.slavevoyages.org/tast/assessment/intro-maps.faces#map4 4. http://www.slavevoyages.org/tast/database/search.faces captained by Captain Dias. It was a slave ship that embarked about 404 slaves in Africa but only disembarked 290 due to 114 slave deaths during the middle passage giving it a 28.2 death percentage. The Southeast Trades and Westerlies are also directed toward opposite directions. It is in favor of the ocean currents however not as compatible as the northern winds. Thus, it would make it slightly hard for ships to sail with the ocean current because the wind patterns could throw them off course but not too badly. Pastora de Limas 2 journey would be as good as Rdeurs because after starting from Rio de Janeiro and Southeast Brazil, the ocean current and the Westerlies would help move the voyage towards their region of slave purchase, Mozambique and Southeast Africa and Indian Ocean islands. The Southeast Trades are helpful, but not very much, in returning the vessel back to Bahia and Bahia, somewhat. All in all, voyages following the southern trade winds are partially handicapped through the fact that the winds are not exactly on the same flow as the ocean currents. The northern and southern winds have definitely called for two different systems of trade. Though they have different and unhelpful sections, overall it was a great assistance to the voyages.