Transatlantic slave trade 1501–1866 – map of routes, numbers and abolition
HistoryRevolutions & Industrial AgeAges 16–17
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Sign in to playA map of the Atlantic world from 1501 to 1890 based on the estimates of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database (SlaveVoyages). Students move through time and filter by the flag of the carrying ships to see how many people were taken from each region of Africa, where they were landed and how many died at sea. Further layers show the triangular and South Atlantic trades, the enslaved population of the main colonies compared with arrivals, and the resistance and laws that ended the trade and slavery.
Lesson: The Atlantic slave trade, the Middle Passage and abolition
What it shows
Between 1501 and 1866 about 12.5 million Africans were forced onto ships bound for the Americas, and about 10.7 million survived the crossing. Most came from West Central Africa and the Bights of Benin and Biafra; Brazil and the Caribbean received the largest numbers. Enslaved people produced sugar, tobacco, coffee and cotton for European and American markets. The map uses the database totals by period, region, destination and flag; the splits inside each period are approximations. Layers also show the goods traded, the enslaved population of the main colonies, resistance, and the laws that ended the trade (1807, 1808) and slavery (1833, 1865, 1888).
How to use
Drag Year or press Play to move through the 25-year periods, and choose a Carrier flag to see one nation's ships. Click a circle to read about a region and its total. Switch to Triangular trade to see the goods on each leg, to Enslaved population to compare arrivals (dashed circles) with census counts, and to Resistance and abolition to follow revolts and laws on the map and the chart.
Parameters you can change
- Year shown on the timeline 1500–1890 year
- Map layer Flows by period, Triangular trade, Enslaved population, Resistance and abolition
- Carrier flag All flags, Portugal / Brazil, Great Britain, France, Spain / Uruguay, Netherlands, United States, Denmark / Baltic
- Timeline speed 2–40 years/second
Questions to explore
- Why did West Central Africa and Brazil dominate the trade in most periods?
- Why did the United States have far more enslaved people in 1860 than the number of Africans who arrived there?
- Which events show that enslaved people themselves resisted and helped to end the slave trade?
