Aaron

What was the Slave Trade
The trans Atlantic Slave trade is a slave trade that went from 1400s - 1800. First, slave traders from Europe set off to Africa to trade guns, cheap jewelry and other things that are cheap on the European market for the slave in Africa. Then, they go to the west indies and America to sell the slaves to the tobacco, sugar, cotton, wool and crop plantations for goods such as sugar crops  and  tobacco etc. and then they load the empty ship with these goods, sail back to Europe sell these goods for a high price which they can then buy more cheap goods and trade for more slaves.

How cruel or inhumane was the Trans - Atlantic Slave Trade?
The slave trade could have been the most cruel and inhumane thing that ever happened that was on a global scale.

The slaves were basically being treated like trade items. The slave traders would have oil rubbed into the slaves scars to make them temporarily disappear so that the slaves look better and more healthy so that they could sell them for a better price which is extremely cruel because the scars would sting very badly when the oil was rubbed in and that way the slaves are treated exactly like item for sale.

Also, the punishments were just unimaginable, e.g. the slave were put into different contraptions, being chained to the ground, being whipped to death and even being shot by a rifle.

The Middle Passage
The Middle Passage is where most of the deaths happen on the way to America. The slaves were mostly kept under the dock of the ship. The conditions were horrible there, there was no sanitation, the space was sealed airtight, the space was very, very crowded. This caused disease like cholera to spread like crazy around the slaves on the ship.