Southeast
Africa
409,000
Other^ Af
rica
2 ,^302 ,^0
00
Bight of Biafra
1,117,000
Gold
Coast
WindwardCoast 745,000
202,000
Sierra Leone
246,000
Returned
to Africa
122,000
Senegambia
603,000
Deaths
recorded
en route
1,309,000
West^ Central^ Afric
a
3 ,^472 ,^000
24,000
Big
ht^
of
Be
nin
1 ,^5
35
,^0
00
To Europe
8,000
Cape Verde Is.
Cape Verde
Bioko
St. Helena
Porto Praya
(Praia)
Ouidah
(PORTUGAL)
(U.K.)
DAHOMEY
Yoruba
Edo
Nupe Chamba
Dendi Hausa
Fon
Ewe
April 16-22
Clotilda arrived
on May 15.
(mainly intercepted
slave ships)
Homeland of
captive Ossa Keeby
Homeland of captives
Charles Lewis, Cudjo Lewis,
and Pollee Allen
June 5
Clotilda departed
Ouidah around May
24, 1860, with 110
NIGERIA captives on board.
CÔTE
D’IVOIRE
LIBERIA
GUINEA
SENEGAL
MAURITANIA
(MOR.)
WESTERN
SAHARA
GUBISSINEAAU-
THE GAMBIA
CAMEROON
EQ.
GUINEA
GABON
ANGOLA
NAMIBIA
SOUTH
AFRICA
CONGO DEM. REP.
OF THE
CONGO
BENIN
TOGO
GHANA
MOROCCO
PORTUGAL SPAIN
AFRICA
EUROPE
O C E A N
Embarked
from Africa
1500 1600 1700 1800 1866
Disembarked
in the Americas
1808
Transatlantic slave
trade illegal in U.S.
and Great Britain
1619
First documented
African slaves in
colonial Virginia
Transatlantic slave trade
1 500- 1866
by decade
1833
Great Britain
abolishes
slavery at home
1865
U.S.
abolishes
slavery
681 ,328 captives
from 18 21-1 830
U.S. STATE BOUNDARIES AS OF 1860 ARE SHOWN. PRESENT-DAY COUNTRY BOUNDARIES ARE SHOWN ELSEWHERE.
MATTHEW W. CHWASTYK, JASON TREAT, NGM STAFF
SOURCES: TRANS-ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE DATABASE, SLAVEVOYAGES.ORG; SYLVIANE A. DIOUF; MOBILE PUBLIC LIBRARY
DEADLY CROSSING
Of the more than 10 million recorded
captives forced onto ships, on average
one in eight died during the voyage.
European slave traders
Ships sailing under the flags of European
nations, predominantly Portugal and
Britain, undertook nearly 32,000 voyages
transporting enslaved Africans to Europe
and the Americas over the centuries.
Human spoils of war
Enslaving defeated foes was a common
tactic used by many ethnic groups in
Africa. Victors often sold captives to
coastal kingdoms like Dahomey, where
the Clotilda went to buy slaves.