There is no other experience in history where innocent African Americans have faced such brutal torment. This infamous ordeal is called the Middle Passage or the “middle leg” of the triangular trade, which was the forced journey of African Americans from Africa to the New World. Africans were torn from their homelands, put on terrible ships, and scattered across the New World as slaves. Between 1500 and 1900, 10 to 16 million Africans crossed the Atlantic and 10 to 15 percent of them died on the journey. Millions of men, women and children have left behind their personal belongings and loved ones who will never be seen again. Not only were Africans restricted from freedom, but they also lost their identity in the process. The kidnapped from their lives that throbbed with many possibilities for greatness were now out of sight and thrown into a never-ending trash heap. The disgusting and inhumane circumstances that Africans faced accurately depict the grave misdeeds of the Middle Passage. All were subjected to difficult circumstances and incessant fears of shipwreck and epidemics. This lasted between five and twelve weeks, depending on weather conditions and starting point. The captain and the crew's employees treated the slaves like wild animals, giving them barely enough food to survive and leaving them to suffer from lice, fleas, and rats, leading to numerous illnesses ("Middle Passage"). "). Records indicated that approximately two-thirds of deaths were caused by malaria, yellow fever, and intestinal disorders (Postma 25). African slaves were bound with heavy iron chains around their hands and feet, with barely enough room to lie down (Howarth). Constant smells of urine, vomit... middle of paper ......, 1995. Print.Howarth, J. "Recovered Histories." The middle passage. Internet. January 9, 2010. .Kendler, Adam. “The Middle Passage.” Slave resistance. Edward E. Baptiste, Web. December 13, 2009. “Middle Passage.” Encyclopedia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. December 13, 2009. Postma, Johannes. The Atlantic slave trade. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2003. Print. Rediker, Marcus. The slave ship A human story. New York, New York: Penguin Group, 2007. “The Wreck of the Henrietta Marie” print. The Mel Fisher Maritime Museum. 2001. Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society, Inc., Web. December 13 2009. .