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
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Successive British governments have resisted calls to formally apologize for the slave trade, or to entertain the prospect of reparations. Rob Picheta, CNN, 24 Oct. 2024 The last two articles, important in the consideration of economic freedom as an essential aspect of human freedom, stress private property, and commit Great Britain to help abolish the slave trade. Alejandro Antonio Chafuen, Forbes, 16 Oct. 2024 Over the course of the transatlantic slave trade, around 4 million Africans were captured and enslaved in Brazil, most from present-day Angola and many of Yoruba descent, an ethnic group that now spans parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. Essence, 10 Oct. 2024 Part of the reason the state eventually outlawed the international slave trade was that new supplies from overseas would dilute the value of Virginia’s own production of enslaved humans. Gregory S. Schneider, Washington Post, 26 July 2024 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

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 14 Nov. 2024.

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