The transatlantic slave trade was one of the greatest crimes against humanity in history. Over roughly 300 years, millions of African men, women and children were forced across the Atlantic Ocean and enslaved. This chapter treats that suffering with honesty and respect.
The triangular trade
European merchants organised a trade route shaped like a triangle across the Atlantic.
- Ships carried manufactured goods from Europe to West Africa.
- There, enslaved African people were taken and forced onto ships bound for the Americas.
- In the Americas they were forced to labour, and goods such as sugar, cotton and tobacco were shipped back to Europe.
The ocean crossing, known as the Middle Passage, was cruel and dangerous, and many did not survive it. Slavery was a system of profound injustice built for the profit of others.
The triangular trade, leg by leg
Examiners expect the route described in order, with the cargo of each leg named.
| Leg | Route | What was carried |
|---|---|---|
| First | Europe → West Africa | Manufactured goods |
| Second — the Middle Passage | West Africa → the Americas | Enslaved African men, women and children, forced onto ships. The crossing was cruel and dangerous, and many did not survive it. |
| Third | The Americas → Europe | Sugar, cotton and tobacco, produced by forced labour |
1807 did not end slavery
This is the most common error on this topic, and it matters: getting it wrong understates how long the injustice continued.
| The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act (1807) | What it did not do |
|---|---|
| Banned the buying, selling and transporting of enslaved people | It did not free those already enslaved |
| Struck at the trade itself | Slavery as a system continued, and was only abolished later |
Two dates, two different things: the ending of the trade came first, and the ending of slavery came afterwards.
The humanity and resistance of enslaved people
Enslaved people were never simply victims. They were mothers, fathers, children, craftspeople, farmers and leaders with their own languages, faiths, skills and hopes.
- They kept alive their cultures, music, stories and religions.
- They resisted in many ways — from quiet acts of defiance to organised uprisings.
- In 1791 an uprising in Haiti led enslaved people to win their own freedom and found a free nation.
The abolition movement
From the late 1700s, a growing movement worked to end the trade. Formerly enslaved people such as Olaudah Equiano spoke and wrote powerfully about their experiences. Campaigners including Quakers, and figures such as William Wilberforce in Parliament, pressed for change. Britain abolished the slave trade in 1807 and slavery across most of its empire in 1833; other nations followed. Abolition was hard-won, and it began with people insisting that every human being is equal in dignity.