slave trade

noun

: trafficking of enslaved people
especially, in U.S. history : the business or practice of capturing, transporting, selling, and buying enslaved African people for profit prior to the American Civil War

Examples of slave trade in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web In addition to examining New Amsterdam’s cultural and industrial legacies, these events will confront the Dutch settlers’ role in removing Indigenous peoples from their lands and facilitating the transatlantic slave trade. Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 May 2024 Bunce Island, where captive West Africans were held in a stone fortress before being forced onto slave ships for the deadly journey across the Middle Passage, served as the center of the region’s slave trade. Joshua Kagavi, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Feb. 2024 See all Example Sentences for slave trade 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'slave trade.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1701, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of slave trade was in 1701

Dictionary Entries Near slave trade

Cite this Entry

“Slave trade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slave%20trade. Accessed 9 May. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on slave trade

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