Atlantic Slave Trade

The Atlantic slave trade, or transatlantic slave trade, involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people to the Americas, operated by slave ships from both Europe and the New World, with some voyages using the triangular trade route and its Middle Passage, particularly in earlier phases. Europeans established a coastal slave trade in the 15th century, and trade to the Americas began in the 16th century, continuing through the 19th. Most of those transported were from Central and West Africa. In contrast to some other slave trades, European traders in the Atlantic trade, like Arab traders supplying their own markets, generally bought captives from West and Central African slave merchants rather than raiding directly, though the Portuguese and other Europeans also built coastal forts and holding pens to gather purchased captives for shipment.