The transatlantic slave trade, also known as the triangular trade, involved the forced transportation of millions of Africans from their homeland to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries.
European slave traders would capture or buy enslaved Africans, often from local African rulers and merchants, and transport them across the Atlantic Ocean to be sold in the Americas. The journey across the ocean, known as the Middle Passage, was brutal and inhumane, with many enslaved Africans dying from disease, starvation, or violence on board the ships.
Once in the Americas, enslaved Africans were forced to work on plantations and in mines, performing backbreaking labor for little or no pay. They were treated as property rather than human beings and subjected to brutal punishment and violence by their owners.
The transatlantic slave trade had a devastating impact on African societies and economies and enslaved individuals and their descendants in the Americas. It contributed to the depopulation of many regions of Africa, disrupted traditional social and economic structures, and fueled conflicts between different groups. The legacy of slavery and racism continues to shape the world today.
