African Slave Trade

Whilst Britain is acknowledged for its role in bringing a cessation to the slave trade, it should be remembered that Britain was one of the worst offenders in the 18th century, dealing with some two and a half million slaves out a total of six million in one century alone. And it should also not be forgotten that this trade was given the full co-operation of African kings and merchants.

Find out more about African slavery in a series of articles below, and how, after slavery was abolished, the Europeans reinvented it through colonisation. The image below also shows African slavery in the USA during the slave trade period whilst the animated graphic shows the number of free and slave states over the centuries.