Atlantic slave trade

The Atlantic slave trade was a massive, forced movement of people across the ocean.

It involved European traders transporting enslaved African people to the Americas. This system lasted for about 400 years, from the 15th century through the 19th century. It was part of a larger era of global contact. This contact connected the "Old World" of Afro-Eurasia to the "New World" of the Americas. This connection changed many societies and economies forever.

The trade relied on new maritime technology and specific routes. In the 15th century, Europeans developed seafaring tools like the caravel. The caravel was a ship designed to handle difficult ocean currents.

These ships allowed for more regular travel across the Atlantic. Traders often used a path known as the triangular trade route. This route included the Middle Passage, which was the sea journey from Africa to the Americas.

This system moved people through a series of organized steps.

Traders used specific locations to manage the movement of people. European traders established outposts on the African coast. They used trading posts called factories to hold enslaved people.

A person called a factor was often stationed near the coast. The factor's job was to help speed up the shipping process. Most enslaved people were bought from local African or African-European dealers. Some were also captured during coastal raids. However, many Europeans avoided raids because malaria made life in sub-Saharan Africa very dangerous.

In the Americas, the labor of enslaved people was used to build empires. The colonial economies in the Caribbean and South Atlantic depended on this labor. They used it to produce commodities like sugarcane, cocoa, and cotton.

Enslaved people also worked in gold and silver mines. They worked in rice fields, the construction industry, and as domestic servants.

Shipowners viewed these people as cargo to be sold as quickly as possible. They were treated as property or units of labor to be sold at markets.

Over time, the legal status of enslaved people became more rigid. In the English colonies, the first Africans were sometimes treated as indentured servants. These workers had legal standing similar to contract workers from Britain.

However, by the middle of the 17th century, slavery became a racial caste. Laws were created to ensure that children born to enslaved mothers were also slaves. This legal principle was known as *partus sequitur ventrem*. This meant that slavery was passed down through generations based on the mother's status.

The scale of this trade was immense and had a high human cost. Estimates suggest that 12 million to 12.8 million Africans were shipped across the Atlantic.

The voyage itself was deadly, with 1.2 million to 2.4 million people dying during the Middle Passage. Millions more died in seasoning camps in the Caribbean or during raids and wars.

Portugal, Britain, Spain, France, the Netherlands, the United States, and Denmark were the major trading nations. Portugal was the first to transport people across the Atlantic, completing a voyage to Brazil in 1526.

Eventually, the world began to change its approach to this system. Near the start of the 19th century, various governments acted to ban the trade. Even after bans, illegal smuggling continued for many years. Most historians believe the trade ended around 1867, though some voyages occurred until 1873.

In the early 21st century, several governments issued formal apologies for the history of the Atlantic slave trade. This reflects a modern recognition of the impact of this era on the world.