US History

Colonization and Settlement (1585-1763)

World History

African Americans

Migration

This collection uses primary sources to explore the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

A map of the slave trade in Africa that shows the regions of most intense activity.

An excerpt from a 1788 account describing the capture and kidnapping of Africans as part of the slave trade.

A photograph of Goree Island off the West African coast, where captured slaves were put on ships bound for the Americas.

A photograph of the view from inside the Maison des Esclaves (Slave House) of the “Door of No Return,” Goree Island, Senegal.

A diagram of the slaveholding capacity of the slave ship *Vigilante*.

An illustration of a scene in the hold of the "blood-stained *Gloria*" during the Middle Passage.

An illustration of chained African slaves in the cargo hold of a slave ship measuring three feet and three inches high.

An 1851 lithograph called *Insurrection on Board a Slave Ship*.

An advertisement for a slave auction in Charleston, South Carolina.

A 1797 advertisement for the sale of a female slave in New York.

An illustration of a woman and child on the auction block.

An engraving for a 1787 medallion designed for British abolitionists.

An 1807 illustration of the “Abolition of the Slave Trade.”

A map of illegal slave-trade routes to the United States used between 1808 and 1860.

Two articles discussing the dismissal of General Mitchell for illegal slave trading in Georgia in 1821.

Transcription:

WASHINGTON, (Geo. [Georgia]) May 26. --  
[added: 1820] That the laws of the country have been shamefully violated by the introduction of a number of African negroes into this state, is well known to the citizens of Georgia; and that the perpetrators of this crime will be brought to trial and suffer an adequate punishment to the offence [offense], is expected by all good citizens; but at the same time we disapprove any step that may have the tendency to influence the opinion of the citizens, and lead them to prejudge in the transaction alluded to, and of which the Courts of the United States, or the National Government have the Constitutional power to take cognizance. Whether General D. B. [David Brydie] Mitchell, is guilty, or not, we will not take upon ourselves to say; but we would wish, for the honor of Georgia, that one who has been her Chief Magistrate, should be found innocent of the severe charges alledged [alleged] against him. When the competent authority shall give a decision on this affair, then will it be the time to consign to infamy those that have participated in this nefarious and [document damaged: di]sgraceful business.  
General Mitchell, agent for Indian affairs at the Creek agency, has been dismissed, by the President of the United States, from the service of the government, in consequence of having been engaged in the illicit introduction of African negroes into Georgia, and affording facilities for their transportation into the Alabama state.   
ib. [ibid] [added: 1821]
 


Questions

1. How does the [map of the slave trade in Africa](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-transatlantic-slave-trade/sources/315) illustrate the idea of global slavery?

2. Use the [excerpt from a 1788 account](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-transatlantic-slave-trade/sources/316) to describe the journey of enslaved Africans before they departed on ships for the New World.

3. Using the two photographs of Goree Island, imagine the experience of the slaves waiting to be sent to the New World on [Goree Island](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-transatlantic-slave-trade/sources/317). Explain the significance of the “[Door of No Return](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-transatlantic-slave-trade/sources/318).”

4. Using the [diagram of slaveholding capacity](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-transatlantic-slave-trade/sources/319), the [illustration of the “blood-stained Gloria"](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-transatlantic-slave-trade/sources/320), the [illustration of chained African slaves](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-transatlantic-slave-trade/sources/321), and the [1851 lithograph](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-transatlantic-slave-trade/sources/322) as evidence, describe the Middle Passage. What was the experience like for enslaved Africans? How was this experience designed to prevent challenges for the slave traders? What problems might it cause for the enslaved?

5. According to the [advertisement for a slave auction in Charleston](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-transatlantic-slave-trade/sources/323), which qualities did slave owners value in slaves at auction? Why did they value these qualities? 

6. What specific story about slavery do the [1797 advertisement](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-transatlantic-slave-trade/sources/324) and the [illustration of a woman and child on the auction block](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-transatlantic-slave-trade/sources/325) tell together?

7. Compare and contrast the [1787 engraving](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-transatlantic-slave-trade/sources/326) and the [1807 illustration](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-transatlantic-slave-trade/sources/327). How do they visualize the abolitionist cause differently?

8. What do the [map of illegal slave-trade routes](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-transatlantic-slave-trade/sources/328) and the [two articles](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-transatlantic-slave-trade/sources/329) tell us about illegal slave trading after 1807?

Activity

Use the items in this set to think about different perspectives on the transatlantic slave trade. Break students into small groups and assign each group a particular point of view (or character) represented by these sources. These might include the African slave trader, a member of the Atlantic ship crew, an enslaved African, an abolitionist, and an American slave owner. Each group should use items in this set to considering the following:

Describe this character’s role to the slave trade. How do they participate?
How does this character feel about the institution of slavery? What are its advantages and/or disadvantages from his/her perspective?
What are this character’s goals? Anxieties?

After each group meets to discuss a profile for its character, groups should share their findings and use them to flesh out relationships between characters. Ask students to consider how power was distributed across the players in the slave trade and how this power structure impacted the history of slavery in the New World. 

Teaching Guide: Exploring the Transatlantic Slave Trade

Resources

1. [In Motion: The African-American Migration Experience: The Transatlantic Slave Trade](http://www.inmotionaame.org/migrations/landing.cfm;jsessionid=f830680521444318229387?migration=1&bhcp=1), The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library. 

2. [African Passages, Lowcountry Adaptations](http://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/africanpassageslowcountryadapt), the Lowcountry Digital History Initiative, the College of Charleston. 

3. [The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database](http://www.slavevoyages.org/tast/index.faces), Emory University.

4. [Transatlantic Slave Trade](http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/dialogue/the-slave-route/transatlantic-slave-trade/), UNESCO Culture. 

5. [“The Atlantic Slave Trade in Two Minutes” animated map](http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_history_of_american_slavery/2015/06/animated_interactive_of_the_history_of_the_atlantic_slave_trade.html), Slate. 


Overview

Between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Transatlantic Slave Trade brought twelve million enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World as part of a broad exchange of trade goods between England, West Africa, South America, the West Indies, and the United States. While the largest numbers of slaves were sent to South America, particularly Brazil, and the West Indies, smaller numbers arrived in the United States where Americans purchased them for labor. Most often from the west and central portions of the African continent, these enslaved people were kidnapped, forced to endure extreme violence, ripped from family and familiar language and culture, and treated as property. They endured the horrors of the Middle Passage, the journey by ship from West African slave trading ports to the New World during which an estimated two million captives died. Once in the United States, enslaved Africans were sold at auctions across the country, from the rice plantations of the South Carolina coast to the small businesses and farms of the rural Northeast. Both England and the United States outlawed the importation of slaves through slave trading in 1807. This did not fully prevent illegal slave trading to the United States, which persisted until the American Civil War. This primary source set include documents, photographs, artwork, and maps that tell the story of the slave trade and its impact.

English

The Transatlantic Slave Trade

transatlantic-slave-trade_03_7abc52ebb9497725120b9289364afe70.jpg

Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.

“Goree Island, Senegal, located off the Western African coast,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/7abc52ebb9497725120b9289364afe70.

A photograph of Goree Island off the West African coast, where captured slaves were put on ships bound for the Americas.

Cite this item

Tips for Students

Item 3 of 15 in the Primary Source Set The Transatlantic Slave Trade