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Enslaved Africans

Definition

This term refers to the millions of African people who were captured and forced into slavery, primarily by European powers, from the 15th to the 19th centuries. They were transported across the Atlantic Ocean in a horrific journey known as the Middle Passage and sold in the Americas.

Analogy

Imagine being a book on a library shelf. Suddenly, you're taken off that shelf, thrown into a box with other books (some of which are damaged or destroyed along the way), and then placed on a completely different shelf in another library where you're expected to function as if nothing happened. That's similar to what enslaved Africans experienced during this period.

Related terms

Middle Passage: The sea journey undertaken by slave ships from West Africa to the West Indies.

Triangular Trade: A multilateral system of trading in which a country pays for its imports from one country by its exports to another. In context of slavery, it involved Europe (which sent goods), Africa (which provided slaves), and Americas (which offered raw materials).

Colonialism: The policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.