The Middle Passage: Transatlantic Slave Trade and Mercantilism

The Dark Side of history that built the modern world economy.

Slavery has existed throughout cultures around the world since ancient times. Often, people who were on the losing side in wars were enslaved, or treated as the property of their conquerors. The Ancient Greeks, Arab cultures, and many others were known to uphold some form of slavery. But by the late 1400s, European explorers in West Africa trading guns and other manufactured goods would create the framework for an institution of slavery that still shapes our social orders today. Just like any human beings, Africans never wanted to be incarcerated or forced into labor, and that was as true in the Age of Discovery and Exploration as it is today. As early as 1656 there is record of a woman named Elizabeth Key, who used the legal system to secure her freedom. Further, many slave revolts, rebellions, and otherwise attempts to secure freedom are evident throughout history; such as the Stono Rebellion in 1739, the Zong Massacre in 1791, or the German Coast Slave Revolt in 1811. But as the Athenians and Melians have reminded us, throughout history, it’s often not a moral judgement that prevails but rather a violent one in need of correction.