The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

The Insightful Thinkers Podcast

Black history in the United States begins with the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, the largest long-distance coerced movement of people in history. From the late fifteenth century onward, the Atlantic Ocean, once a barrier that prevented regular interaction between the people inhabiting its adjacent continents, became a commercial highway that integrated the histories of Africa, Europe, and the Americas for the first time. Regrettably, the New World was not built without ruining – and often ending – the lives of those at mercy to slavery and by afflicting the lives of so many of their descendants.

Related reading: Eltis, D. (2007). A Brief Overview of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.

https://www.insightfulthinkersmedia.com/