Ted Poe: “I rise in support of H.R. 3432, an act to establish a commission on the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. For…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 3432, an act to establish a commission on the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. For over 200 years, countless Africans died appalling deaths during the so-called 'Middle Passage,' the inhumane overseas voyage of their lives to slavery. Many Africans never made it to the Americas because they died on the way. In that era, as throughout history, man's inhumanity to man had a lot to do with money. The Middle Passage referred to a middle portion of a triangular trade in cargo and people that began and ended in Europe. Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, Dutch and other traders, including Americans, arrived on the West Coast of Africa where they sold or traded European cargo of textiles, firearms and other goods for Africans, who had been enslaved or kidnapped in many cases by other Africans. From there, they began the inhumane 'Middle' journey to the Caribbean Islands and the Americas, during which many of them died.”