ABSTRACT
Think of maritime slavery, and the notorious Middle Passage – the unprecedented, forced migration of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic – readily comes to mind. This so-called middle leg (from Africa to the Americas) of a supposed trading triangle
linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas naturally captures attention for its scale and horror. After all, the Middle Passage was the largest forced, transoceanic migration in world history, now thought to have involved about 12.5 million African captives
shipped in about 44,000 voyages that sailed between 1514 and 1866. No other coerced migration matches it for sheer size or gruesomeness.1
