Explore histories of migration, citizenship and belonging in Germany and the U.S. over the centuries.
1619
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1808
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: Largest Forced Migration in History
The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade saw over 12 million Africans forcibly moved to the Americas, bringing approximately 50 ethnicgroups. Also called the Triangle Trade due to its three-legged route, Europeans traded goods for Africans, then sent them to the Americas. The Middle Passage, this journey's second leg, spanned two to three months and resulted in the death of 1.5 to 2 million Africans. Survivors were crucial in developing the "New World." By 1860, the US South had around four million slaves. Central to the US cash economy, they farmed cotton, tobacco, and rice, always risking their lives for freedom.
Detail of a British broadside depicting the ship Brooks and the manner in which more than 420 enslaved adults and children could be carried on board, c. 1790.
