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114 PERIOD 2 Colonial America amid Global Change: 1607–1754

The Rise and Decline of the Slave Trade The Destinations of Enslaved People*
Brazil
(45.4%)
These sample pages are distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
2,000,000 4,864,000
Mainland North
Number of enslaved people imported from Africa per 25-year periods 1,250,000 America (4.6%) Data from Estimates Database. 2009. Voyages: Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database, www.slavevoyages.org/tast/assessment/estimates.faces. Accessed June 15, 2010.
America (3.6%)
1,750,000
389,000
Mainland Spanish
1,500,000
Copyright (c) 2024 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
487,000
Strictly for use with its products. NOT FOR REDISTRIBUTION.
1,000,000
750,000
Caribbean
500,000
(44.8%)
4,798,000
250,000
1676–1700
1576–1600
1726–1750
1626–1650
1826–1850
1776–1800
1526–1550
1501–1525 1551–1575 1601–1625 1651–1675 1701–1725 1751–1775 1801–1825 1851–1866 *Figures indicate numbers of enslaved people disembarked.
Percentages are approximate and do not add up to 100%.
The Slave Trade in Numbers, 1501–1866 Extraordinary numbers of enslaved Africans were shipped to other
parts of the world from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. The slave trade transformed mainland North
America, Brazil, and the West Indies.
What broad conclusions about the transatlantic slave trade can you draw from these data?
HEW_9462_03_F01 e Slave Trade in Numbers
First proof
Middle Passage The trip across the Atlantic, known as the Middle Passage, was a brutal and
The brutal transatlantic often deadly experience for enslaved Africans. Exhausted and undernourished by the
portion of the forced journey time they boarded the large oceangoing vessels, the captives were placed in dark and
of enslaved Africans from crowded holds. Most had been poked and prodded by slave traders, and some had been
Africa to the Americas.
Historians estimate that branded to ensure that a trader received the exact individuals he had purchased. Once
millions of enslaved Africans in the hold, they might wait for weeks before the ship finally set sail. By that time, the
died before they arrived in the foul-smelling and crowded hold became a nightmare of disease and despair. There was
Americas. never sufficient food or fresh water for the captives, and women especially were sub-
ject to sexual abuse by crew members. Many captives could not communicate with each
other because they spoke different languages, and none of them knew exactly where
they were going or what would happen when they arrived.
Those who survived the voyage were most likely to find themselves in the slave mar-
kets of Barbados or Jamaica, where they were put on display for potential buyers. Once
purchased, enslaved people went through a period known as seasoning as they regained
their strength, became accustomed to their new environment, learned commands in a
new language, and became experts at the labor they would be forced to perform. Some
did not survive seasoning, falling prey to malnutrition and disease or committing suicide.
Others adapted to the new circumstances and adopted enough European or British ways
to survive even as they sought means to resist the shocking and oppressive conditions.

AP ® WORKING with EVIDENCE

Source: King Charles II, Royal African Company Charter, 1672

“The Royal African [Company’s] Limits for Trade granted them by His
[Majesty’s] Charter. . . .

In the River Gambia, upon James Island, the [Company] have built a Fort, where
seventy men, at least, are kept. And there is a Factory from whence Elephants’
Teeth, Bees-wax, and Cowhides are exported in very considerable quantities.
The River Gambia is very large, and runs up very high (much higher than any

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