Of the more than 10 million enslaved Africans to eventually reach the Western Hemisphere, just ,—less than 4 percent of the total—came to North America. This was dwarfed by the 1. The dots—which represent individual slave ships—also correspond to the size of each voyage. The larger the dot, the more enslaved people on board.

The interactive animates more than 20, voyages cataloged in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database. We excluded voyages for which there is incomplete or vague information in the database.

The graph at the bottom accumulates statistics based on the raw data used in the interactive and, again, only represents a portion of the actual slave trade—about one-half of the number of enslaved Africans who actually were transported away from the continent.

History of American Slavery, Ep 2: The Atlantic slave trade during its heyday and the remarkable life of Olaudah Equiano.

There are a few trends worth noting. As the first European states with a major presence in the New World, Portugal and Spain dominate the opening century of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, sending hundreds of thousands of enslaved people to their holdings in Central and South America and the Caribbean.

In the s, however, Spanish transport diminishes and is replaced and exceeded by British, French, Dutch, and—by the end of the century—American activity. This hundred years—from approximately to —is also the high-water mark of the slave trade, as Europeans send more than 7.

In the final decades of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Portugal reclaims its status as the leading slavers, sending 1. Spain also returns as a leading nation in the slave trade, sending , to the West.

The rest of the European nations, by contrast, have largely ended their roles in the trade.

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Triangular trade - Wikipedia

By the conclusion of the trans-Atlantic slave trade at the end of the 19 th century, Europeans had enslaved and transported more than Correction, June 30, The interactive originally displayed incorrect locations for Quilimane also spelled Quelimane , Malembo, and Cardenas.

They are in Mozambique, Angola, and Cuba, respectively, not Sudan and Spain. The revised map does not show this port or voyages to it. Correction, June 25, The interactive originally displayed incorrect locations for St. Vincent and Zion Hill. Follow him on Twitter. Slate is published by The Slate Group, a Graham Holdings Company.

African Slave Trade across the Atlantic Ocean

Slate Sign In Sign Up. This Haunting Animation Maps the Journeys of 15, Slave Ships in Two Minutes. The History of American Slavery. By Andrew Kahn and Jamelle Bouie. For the full interactive version, use a larger device. Interactive by Andrew Kahn.

Black presence

Background image by Tim Jones. Inside the Slave Ship. Map—and Read the Chilling Inscriptions ".

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