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)