AFRO3006

Between the sixteenth and the nineteenth centuries, the Trans-Atlantic slave trade forced millions of Africans into bondage in the Americas. While the exact number remains unknown, it is estimated that over 10 million Africans arrived in the New World over a period of 400 years. Most of them were bound for Central and South America with less than half a million arriving to the British colonies in North America. At the dawn of the 21st Century, however, U.S. census figures determined that more Africans had arrived in the United States voluntarily since 1990, than the total amount brought in as captives. This course examines the impact of African migrations in the Atlantic World beginning with the explorations of Portuguese mariners down the coast of West Africa in the 15th century, which set the foundation for the trans-Atlantic slave trade.