Atlantic+Slave+Trade

The Atlantic Slave Trade was very important to world history. Slavery has always been prevalent in the world, but the Atlantic Slave Trade took it to another level. It became a vicious circle. It all started with the European exploration of west Africa in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The kings there traded goods for the advanced European guns. These goods included people. These slaves could be criminals or captives from a neighboring country. If one nation did not trade, then they fell behind because they weren't getting any guns. The Portugese and Spanish sent slaves to their colonies in Spanish AMerica and the Caribbean. The English sent them to North America and the Caribbean. The slaves were shipped in awful conditions on the way to the AMericas, known as the Middle Passage. The Atlantic Slave Trade was at its zenith in the eighteenth century under the English, but the trade was abolished in the beginning of the nineteenth century. The Slave Trade was responsible for the diaspora of hundreds of thousands of Africans.

http://www.sheboyganfalls.k12.wi.us/staff/kwwodach/slave_line.jpg Created By Charlie Baker 10/11/08