African Slave Trade

Definition

The African Slave Trade, also known as the Transatlantic Slave Trade, was a system where Africans were captured in Africa and forcibly transported across the Atlantic to work as slaves in the Americas from the 15th to 19th centuries.

Related terms

Middle Passage: This term refers to the part of the trade where Africans were densely packed onto ships and transported across the Atlantic Ocean under brutal conditions.

Triangular Trade: This is a term describing how colonial trade routes among Europe, Africa, and America formed a triangle on the map. Goods would be shipped from Europe to Africa in exchange for slaves; these slaves were then shipped from Africa to America (Middle Passage); finally goods produced by slave labor would be shipped back from America to Europe.

Plantation System: A socio-economic system based on large-scale agriculture that relies heavily on slave labor. In America, plantations were developed primarily for growing tobacco, rice, sugar cane and cotton.