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Captured enslaved West Africans marching in the 19th century
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- Most enslaved people in the Americas came from West Africa.
- African Origins of Enslaved People in British North America
Captured enslaved West Africans marching in the 19th century Though the colonial African slave trade is considered the largest forced exodus in history, slave markets were nothing new when the slave trade began. In Africa, slave trade had existed within the Muslim world for over 700 years by the time Europeans became involved. Many Arab states enslaved Europeans and Africans. Slavery was also accepted and practiced in much of Europe and was not forbidden by Christianity or Islam at the time. In 1450, the Roman Catholic pope even encouraged enslaving non-Christians. However, in 1514, Pope Leo X denounced the practice. The slave trade expanded because Europeans exploited the already established slave trade in Africa. Political turmoil in large areas of West and Central Africa also made it easier for the growing slave trade to take hold. Many people who were sold into enslavement were often the defeated soldiers or refugees of local wars. But the slave trade changed according to supply and demand. Whenever there was disorder or war along the west coast of Africa, enslavers could purchase more enslaved people for less money. 
Most enslaved people in the Americas came from West Africa. Many Africans were enslaved as the result of wars between different tribes and states. Some of these enslaved Africans had been captured on the battlefield or had been on the losing side of a war. Others were taken in surprise raids or enslaved for debts or crimes. They were forced to endure terrible marches to the coast, during which as many as a third of them died. African merchants then sold the survivors for guns, cloth, and rum from Europe. Some Europeans pursued slave-capturing expeditions. However, for Europeans it was safer and cheaper to trade goods for people who had already been captured by Africans. Slave traders often operated illegally to avoid paying taxes and registration costs set by governments. Most were private merchants working for companies created by European governments, such as the British Royal African Company. During the Atlantic slave trade, British traders shipped more enslaved Africans than other countries. Portugal and France were not far behind. For many years, Portugal had a monopoly on supplying enslaved people to Spanish colonies because of treaty agreements.
Source: P. C. Curtin, The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1969), 157. This chart shows that most enslaved people landing in Virginia and South Carolina came from West Africa. Not all slave ships recorded the origin of their passengers. However, the chart above is from Virginia and South Carolina, during a time when these colonies kept records on the sources for enslaved Africans. The different numbers for these two states may reflect varied trading patterns or the slightly different time periods. For instance, Angola and Congo were the African sources for Virginia and South Carolina in later years. Eventually, different regions of Africa became subject to the slave trade. As the slave trade grew, it depopulated large areas of the continent. Jump 
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