History is chock full of dark examples of people’s inhumanity to each other. From the throwing of slaves into the ocean to drown then filing insurance claims for their value, to blind faith in the market philosophies during a famine that led to the death of millions, there is no shortage of historic dark moments. Following are forty things about these and other dark but lesser-known moments from history.
40. The Transatlantic Slave Trade Saw Millions of Africans Shipped to the New World
The transatlantic slave trade was one of history’s darker episodes, which lasted for almost four hundred years, from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. It was part of a triangular trade that linked the New World, Europe, and Africa. Raw goods were shipped from the New World to Europe, and manufactured goods were shipped from Europe to Africa, where they were traded for slaves who were shipped to the New World, to toil in the production of more raw goods.
While it lasted, the transatlantic slave trade saw the transportation of an estimated 12 – 15 million Africans to the New World for a life of slavery that was often dark, cruel, brutal and short. At least it was for those who survived the horrific Middle Passage from Africa to the New World, during which millions of slaves perished.