
Animated interactive of the history of the Atlantic slave trade (2015) - georgecmu
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_history_of_american_slavery/2015/06/animated_interactive_of_the_history_of_the_atlantic_slave_trade.html
======
gol706
I did an independent study back in college to make maps like these. At the
time there was a CD-ROM floating around with a database containing all of this
data. It must have been an amazing amount of work to compile that database
from the shipping records. As impersonal as numbers can be, work like this
really helps you wrap your mind around the magnitude of the slave trade and
how it shaped the Americas.

------
tomcam
No mention of who sold these slaves to the Europeans. For 1300 years, right up
to the 20th century, the business was dominated by Muslim slavers. Slavery is
truly America's original sin and will be a stain on her memory forever, but
Europeans didn't just march in and grab them. They bought slaves wholesale
from an African dealer network that goes back centuries.

[http://autocww.colorado.edu/~toldy2/E64ContentFiles/AfricanH...](http://autocww.colorado.edu/~toldy2/E64ContentFiles/AfricanHistory/SlaveryInAfrica.html)

~~~
liberte82
I'm seeing this meme every time slavery is brought up these days. I'm trying
to understand why it's so important to some people to add this bit of context.
The only reason I can think of is it out some desire to bring an "all sides
are bad" mentality to things, to somehow lessen the wrongness of what was done
by Americans.

~~~
tomcam
> I'm trying to understand why it's so important to some people to add this
> bit of context.

For me, context is important. For example, killing is bad. Killing someone in
the process of shooting up a school or subway is less bad. I believe deeply in
diversity, and I am also to keep more than one concept in my mind at the same
time--America's evil, and that of others.

> to somehow lessen the wrongness of what was done by Americans.

If you mean to include my comment, I find your observation bizarre and
revealing. Bizarre because you can't read my mind, and revealing because
apparently you think you can. My wording about America was pretty strong. I
honestly couldn't think of a more appropriate and accurate description. How
would you phrase it?

------
Pigo
This kind of makes me wonder if there are museums or memorials in Europe and
central/south America dedicated to their role in the slave trade, the way we
have them here in the states.

~~~
lern_too_spel
Indeed they do — far more impressive museums and monuments than we have here
[1]. Notably, they do not have hundreds of monuments dedicated to those who
fought to preserve slavery.

[1] [http://www.theroot.com/look-at-all-these-monuments-from-
arou...](http://www.theroot.com/look-at-all-these-monuments-from-around-the-
world-that-1798358305)

~~~
Pigo
That one in the Guadeloupe Islands looks like a pretty big deal. We have the
Freedom Center here in Cincinnati, which gets like 0 visitors a year, but the
city spent a fortune on it and the water-front location.

[http://www.freedomcenter.org/](http://www.freedomcenter.org/)

------
corey_moncure
Watch what happens in 1776!

~~~
eighthnate
The british were by far the largest atlantic slave traders and the american
colonies were largest market to ship slaves to. Once they lost the colonies,
they lost their largest slave market and switched to anti-slave trade to
punish the US and also to hurt the french slave markets as well. They even ran
blockades against the US and french to keep slaves from markets and starve the
economies of slaves.

Pretty interesting how self-interest and economics drove american/british
views on slavery back then.

------
mcguire
" _For the full interactive version, use a larger device._ "

Nice.

------
neves
What impresses me it the amount of ships that never arrive.

------
anc84
Please add (2015) to the title.

