Transatlantic Slavery

Transatlantic slavery was the forced transportation and treatment of millions of Africans from the 16th to the 19th centuries, primarily to work on plantations in the Americas. Enslaved Africans were captured, shipped across the Atlantic in brutal conditions, and sold into lifelong servitude under harsh, inhumane conditions. This system supported economic growth in European colonies through the production of commodities like sugar, tobacco, and cotton. The transatlantic slave trade had profound long-term social, cultural, and economic impacts, including the legacy of racial inequality and systemic discrimination that persists today.