The Atlantic Slave Trade was a system where African people were captured, transported across the Atlantic Ocean, and sold as slaves in the Americas from the 16th to 19th centuries.
Think of it like a horrific conveyor belt. Raw materials like sugar, tobacco, and cotton were sent from America to Europe. In Europe, these goods were turned into finished products and shipped to Africa. In Africa, these goods were traded for enslaved people who were then shipped back to America. This cycle continued for centuries.
Middle Passage: This refers to the part of the trade where Africans, densely packed onto ships, were transported across the Atlantic to the West Indies.
Plantation System: A form of agricultural mass production typically associated with large-scale slave labor. Key crops produced on plantations included tobacco, sugar cane and cotton.
Colonialism: The policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.
What effect did the Atlantic slave trade have on Africa during this period?
What was a significant impact of the Atlantic slave trade on Africa during the colonial era?
How might an early ban on the Atlantic Slave trade by all European colonial powers influence the labour force dynamics in their respective colonies?
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