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
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Many of these New Orleans traditions find their origin in West Africa, legacies of the transatlantic slave trade. Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 18 May 2025 Nicholas Bayard, the city’s sixteenth mayor, had ties to the slave trade and was an associate of the pirate Captain Kidd. Eric Lach, New Yorker, 5 May 2025 This particular thought process, constituted the existence of the Transatlantic slave trade which enslaved nearly 12.5 million Africans and ultimately substantiated the United State’s as one of the richest countries in the world. Essence, 25 Mar. 2025 Berkeley, an academic and bishop, profited from the international slave trade and promoted ideas of enslavement throughout his life. Kathy Rose O'Brien, CNN, 6 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for slave trade

Word History

First Known Use

1701, in the meaning defined above

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

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Cite this Entry

“Slave trade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slave%20trade. Accessed 6 Jun. 2025.

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