The African-American slave trade was a tragic part of American history. The slave trade did not only include the United States, but other countries in the New World as well. As a result of the slave trade, ten to fifteen million African slaves were sent to the New World between the 16th and 19th Centuries. Slaves were first sent to Brazil in the early 16th Century. The slave trade continued until 1808 when the United States Congress banned further importation of slaves from Africa. However, they did not stop the slave trade that already occurred in the country. This included the sale of family members, which resulted in the disintegration of African-American slave families. While slavery was outlawed in the northern parts of the United States per the Missouri Compromise in 1820, it continued to thrive in the Southern United States. It was not outlawed until the Civil War. During this time, President Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves with the Emancipation Proclamation (Infoplease).
The first slaves for the United States were sent to Virginia in 1619. This was due to the discovery of tobacco in the area. As it was a popular trade product, it was considered a valuable source of income. However, it also required massive amounts of manual labor. The slaves were sent there to help with the labor. The slave trade continued to escalate after this period. During the early 17th Century, approximately 36,000 slaves were imported annually to the United States. However, by the end of the century, this had increased to approximately 80,000 slaves. This also resulted from the need for increased labor to man the cotton farms in the Southern United States (Blackburn). A large part of this resulted from the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793. The invention of this machine increased the production of cotton in the south. However, slaves were still required to farm the cotton (Friedman).
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The slave trade often resulted in the death of many African slaves during the Trans-Atlantic crossing. On average, ten to twenty percent of slaves would not survive the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. It is estimated that 12.5 million slaves were transported across the ocean to be sold as slaves. However, of this massive amount, only 10.7 million survived. This was due to illness, dehydration, poor food quality and other tragedies on board the slave ships. The majority of the slaves were not sent to the United States. Of the slaves, only about 388,000 were directly shipped to the United States. The vast majority of slaves were sent to South America and Brazil specifically. Brazil was also the last country to outlaw slavery. It did so in 1888. However, by this time, approximately 4 million slaves had been imported to Brazil. This was approximately forty percent of the African slaves who were sent to the New World. (The Root).
While a small percentage of African slaves were directly sent to the United States, a large number were later shipped to the country. The majority of these slaves came from the Caribbean slave trade. In total, approximately 450,000 African slaves ended up in the United States. The Caribbean island had a thriving slave trade. The exception to this was Haiti. The slaves in Haiti revolted in the late 18th Century to early 19th Century. As a result, slavery was outlawed in the country (Infoplease).
It is crucial to recognize the devastation that the slave trade had on African-American families. Many slaves died as a result of the slave trade. Those who survived the ocean crossing were often treated harshly and could even be murdered legally. The 450,000 African slaves who ended up in the United States also had a large number of offspring. The offspring were automatically the property of the slave owner. The majority of African-Americans today are descended from these 450,000 and their offspring. Today, that is approximately 42 million African-Americans (Black Americans).
- Black Americans”. Encyclopedia Americana.2002.print.(Encyclopedia)
- Blackburn, Robin. “Enslavement and Industrialisation.”bbc.bbc.February 17, 2011.web. 22February 2014.
- Friedman, Robert. “The Life Millennium: The 100 Most Important Events and People of the Past 1000 Years.” New York , NY : Life books, 1998.print.
- History of Slavery in America”. Infoplease.infoplease.n.d. 21 February 2014
. - “How Many Slaves Landed in the US?”. The Root..n.d. 21 February 2014.www.theroot.com/articles/history/2012/10/how_many_slaves_came_to_americ afact_vs_fiction.html.
