During the Middle Passage, slaves were kept in appalling, inhumane conditions, often chained to one another for long periods of time. This has led to wonder how they managed to relieve themselves during the journey, were they allowed to use some sort of toilet or a chamberpot, or were they just expected to relieve themselves where they were?
The middle passage netted profit for the trader per living slave successfully transported across the Atlantic, as such the aim was to maximise the space on the trip from Africa.
As such little interest was shown towards the hygiene and treatment of the enslaved Africans. Some ships had buckets of excrement that were passed away, but because they were not enough, or the enslaved Africans were so tightly packed the movement was difficult, that majority of the times they chose to urinate or defecate where they lay, sat, or stood. Usually they were so packed together that many lay there among each others urine, feces, and in case of dysentery, which was extremely common, blood. Such conditions meant that ships commonly had outbreaks of smallpox, and yellow fever, amongst others.
On many an occasion such inhumane conditions drove slaves mad, with the revolting, or committing suicide by jumping into the water at their first opportunity.