The Transatlantic Slave Trade
The Transatlantic Slave Trade is one of the great crimes in history, a theft of human life that bankrolled the colonization of entire continents and invented the modern world. These lessons and resources help students map the slave trade from the centers of European capital and the coasts of Africa to the plantations of the Americas.
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Featured Materials
When Humans Became Inhumane
Impact of the Slave Trade: Through a Ghanaian Lens
How did the Atlantic slave trade impact Africa? We can study a smaller region to try to determine bigger answers.
Domingos Álvares (Graphic Biography)
Despite being enslaved and forcibly transported to the Americas and Europe, West African healer Domingos Álvares continued to treat others, building community and networks.
Primary Sources: First Person Accounts of the Transatlantic Slave Trade
Over 12 million people were abducted from Africa and transported across the Atlantic Ocean. These first-hand accounts show the horrors of the journey and ways people resisted.
The Transatlantic Slave Trade
The transatlantic slave trade was a major economic development. But it depended on the horrific treatment of enslaved humans on an unprecedented scale.
The Disastrous Effects of Increased Global Interactions c. 1500 to c. 1600
Parts of the world benefitted by increased global networks. But the Atlantic slaving system as well as the sharp decline in indigenous populations were among the devastating effects of this period.
Race and Coerced Labor Part I: How Did People Become Property in the Americas?
Slavery in the Americas is the subject of many histories. In this article, we take time to absorb the disturbing fact that it was ever legal to “own” a person.
Race and Coerced Labor Part II: Motivations and Justifications
What were the motives that created the Atlantic slaving and plantation systems? How did people try to justify its terrors in an era of “Enlightenment”?
Capitalism and Slavery
Slaving and slavery existed alongside capitalism. But were they rival economic systems, or did they support each other?