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Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

Definition

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was part of the wider international slave trade, involving transportation of enslaved African people primarily by European slave traders to colonies in Americas over Atlantic Ocean.

Analogy

Imagine an awful highway stretching across an ocean. On this highway instead of cars there are ships filled with innocent people being taken against their will from their homeland (Africa) towards unknown lands (Americas).

Related terms

Colonialism: A policy or practice by which a powerful country directly controls less powerful countries and uses their resources for its own benefit.

Plantations: Large farms in tropical climates that used enslaved laborers - often Africans brought over during transatlantic slave trade - primarily for growing cash crops like cotton or sugar cane.

Indentured Servitude: A system where an individual is bound to work for a specific period of time (usually several years) in exchange for something, often passage to a new country or training in a trade.