The transatlantic slave trade was the largest forced migration in human history and completely changed Africa, the Americas and Europe. Between the 1400s and 1800s, 12-15 million men, women and children were forcibly transported from Africa to the Americas.
Britain’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade officially began, with royal approval, in 1663 with the creation of the Royal African Company (RAC).
Between 1662 and 1807, British and British colonial ships purchased an estimated 3,415,500 Africans. Of this number, 2,964,800 survived the ‘middle passage’ and were sold into slavery in the Americas.
The Middle Passage refers to the stage of the transatlantic slave trade where enslaved Africans were transported across the Atlantic Ocean from West and Central Africa to the Americas. The voyage was called the “Middle Passage” because it was the middle leg of a three-part journey, with the other two legs being the journey from Africa to the slave-trading ports and the journey from the Americas to the final destinations of the enslaved Africans.
Belfast played a role in the international slave trade and its abolition, to learn more, sign up for the ANTI SLAVERY BELFAST TOUR via the website.