Children in the Slave Trade
Children in the Slave Trade [Table]
Annotation
The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: A Database on CD-ROM, edited by David Eltis, Stephen D. Behrendt, David Richardson, and Herbert S. Klein, contains the best quantitative evidence to date on the number of Africans sold into the slave trade. A collection of trader inventories, the CD-Rom serves as a searchable database of voyages that took place during from the 16th to 19th centuries. Information on points of embarkation and disembarkation, mortality rates, gender and age, captains and crew, instances of rebellion, and epidemics can all be found in the database. However, one should be aware that the information is not complete and that is drawn from the evidence recorded in slave ship logs by the captain and crew. Therefore, the quantitative data gleaned from such a source should be used carefully.
In the chart below, the number of children recorded in the database by century is listed, as well as the region of embarkation. This data shows an increase in children traveling the Middle Passage, as well as changes in supply and demand from region of disembarkation. This not only gives an idea of changes in planter demand and child worth, but also regional preference as well. Furthermore, the data suggests changes in supply as well as demand.
Source
The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: A Database on CD-Rom. Edited by David Eltis, Stephen Behrendt, Herbert S. Klein, and David Richardson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Annotated by Colleen A. Vasconcellos.
Primary Source Text
The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: A Database on CD-Rom
| Point of Embarkation | 1601-1700 | 1701-1800 | 1801-1867 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Africa unspecified | 6,701 | 65,440 | 125,699 |
| Bight of Benin | 39,221 | 93,216 | 41,324 |
| Bight of Biafra | 16,478 | 82,021 | 40,932 |
| Gold Coast | 14,602 | 79,663 | 2,618 |
| West-central Africa | 11,169 | 145,523 | 20,092 |
| Senegambia | 5,462 | 26,424 | 1,668 |
| Sierra Leone | 974 | 24,398 | 11,512 |
| Windward Coast | 0 | 13,174 | 1,766 |
| South-east Africa | 0 | 4,202 | 3,327 |
| Total | 94,607 | 534,061 | 248,398 |
How to Cite This Source
Colleen A. Vasconcellos, "Children in the Slave Trade," in Children and Youth in History, Item #141, https://cyh.rrchnm.org/items/show/141 (accessed August 10, 2021).
- Introduction
- Primary Sources
- The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Kidnapping [Excerpt]
- The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Slave Ship [Excerpt]
- The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Middle Passage [Excerpt]
- The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Slave Auction [Excerpt]
- The Dolben's Act of 1788 [Government Document]
- Request: Playden Onely to the Royal African Company, 1721 [Official Document]
- Advertisement for Sale of Newly Arrived Africans, Charleston, July 24, 1769 [Advertisement]
- Captured Africans Liberated from a Slaving Vessel, East Africa, 1884 [Image]
- Slave Coffle, Central Africa, 1861 [Image]
- A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture A Native of Africa, but Resident Above Sixty Years in the United States of America Related by Himself [Excerpt]
- Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery: Slave Coffle [Excerpt]
- Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery: Middle Passage [Excerpt]
- Children in the Slave Trade [Table]
- Teaching
- Resources
