Meaning & use
slave trade
The historical buying, selling, and forced transport of enslaved people, especially across the Atlantic from Africa.
See it in a sentence
The transatlantic slave trade forcibly transported millions of Africans to the Americas over four centuries.
Museums across the country now document the brutal history of the slave trade.
A note on using this word
Historians often say 'transatlantic slave trade' to distinguish this system from other historical forms of slavery and trafficking.
Words with a similar meaning
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