The major nations involved in the slave trade were England, Africa, and the United
States. The practice of slavery had a history of hundreds of years. It was made illegal in America
in 1807, although it continued in small part for many years after that.
The Middle Passage refers to the passage of African people from Africa to America, as
part of the Atlantic Slave Trade. Ships that departed Europe for African markets with
commercial goods, which were traded for kidnapped Africans who were transported across the
Atlantic as slaves. The enslaved Africans were sold or traded for raw materials, which would be
transported back to Europe to complete the triangular trade. The term Middle Passage refers to
that branch of the transatlantic trade in which millions of Africans were imprisoned, enslaved,
and removed from their homelands. This trade route compares to the silk route. The Silk Route
was given its name by a 19th century Austrian geologist, Ferdinand von Richthofen. He named
the road after the main form of currency that the Chinese used. There are no written records that
mark the beginning of the Silk Road, but there are some guesses as to how it began. The
Silk Road might have begun when nomadic people would trade goods with one another over the
course of their wanderings. Valued trade items were tin, gold, turquoise, rubies, cotton, jade,
camels, and horses. Not only were goods traded but also ideas such as metalworking, the wheel,
the chariot, and writing.
There are various lingering ripple effects of the slave trade that still exist today. One
example is the relations between the United States and Mexico. A problem that is
occurring in regards to Mexican immigration and border hopping in the United States.
Most Mexicans come to the U.S in search of freedom and a new opportunity. But, most
immigrants are taken advantage of by U.S business owners. The immigrants will be...