c. 1501–1866 CE / Sub-Saharan Africa
The Expansion of the Transatlantic Slave Trade
Colonial plantations and the slave trade forcibly displaced millions of Africans, building the Atlantic economy on profound deprivation of personal freedom.
The story
The transatlantic slave trade continued to expand from the sixteenth century. SlaveVoyages estimates that approximately 12.5 million people were forced aboard ships between 1501 and 1866, many of whom died during the crossing. European colonial expansion, plantation demand, and the participation of different African political powers together shaped this system, while its victims continually resisted. Luanda is used here as an illustrative point for an important port of departure, rather than as the sole source or earliest starting point of the entire trade.
Elsewhere in the world
The labor of enslaved people linked sugar, tobacco, and cotton production in the Americas with European consumption, while the later Haitian Revolution directly challenged this order.
Dates and precision
c. 1501–1866 CE Approximate period
The dates describe a process over time; the interactive timeline uses its starting point.
Representative map location
Representative coordinates · -8.81°, 13.23°
Coordinates locate a representative point for the story. They do not mean the event happened only here and do not represent historical borders.
Bibliography
- SlaveVoyages University Research Consortium | Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Estimates
Sources are listed as bibliography titles, without external links. A reference does not mean every sentence or interpretation has been independently verified.