slave trade

American  

noun

1. the business or process of capturing, transporting, and selling human beings into chattel slavery, especially Black Africans brought to the New World prior to the mid-19th century.

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slave trade British  

noun

1. the business of trading in slaves, esp the transportation of Black Africans to America from the 16th to 19th centuries

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slave trade Cultural  

1. The transportation of slaves from Africa to North and South America between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. Congress banned the importing of slaves into the United States in 1808.

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Other Word Forms

• slave-trader
  noun
• slave-trading
  noun

Etymology

Origin of slave trade

First recorded in 1725–35

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

slave trade

It called on the monarch to refer three questions on the legality of the transatlantic slave trade to the Caribbean island's highest court of appeal based in London.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

The palace said discussions about the colonial legacy and the slave trade were "important" but "primarily matters for governments to address".

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

The researchers say the register lays bare the breadth of which individuals contributed financially to the slave trade - from monarchs and politicians, to plumbers and clergymen.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

In 2015, David Cameron, who was prime minister at the time, ruled out making reparations for Britain's role in the historic slave trade, while visiting Jamaica.

From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026

The first resolution was designed to appease the Deep South by confirming that the Constitution prohibited any federal legislation limiting or ending the slave trade until 1808.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis