slave trade
noun
: trafficking of enslaved people
especially, in U.S. history
: the business or practice of capturing, transporting, selling, and buying enslaved African people for profit prior to the American Civil War
Examples of slave trade in a Sentence
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Rockwell claimed Jewish communists were behind the Civil Rights Movement, while the Nation of Islam published a pseudo-historical book in 1991 claiming that Jews were responsible for the transatlantic slave trade.
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George Michael, The Conversation, 19 Dec. 2025
One is that for all or most of the people ensnared in the slave trade, their lives were undoubtedly better before capture and their ancestors’ lives were better for generations upon generations prior to enslavement.
—Literary Hub, 12 Dec. 2025
At Rokeby, museum interpreters explain how the Robinson's ancestors had become wealthy in part due to the slave trade, but were abolitionists in later generations.
—Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 10 Nov. 2025
Kidnapped West and Central Africans brought these magical amulets to the Caribbean and the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade.
—Essence, 29 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for slave trade
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George Michael, The Conversation, 19 Dec. 2025
One is that for all or most of the people ensnared in the slave trade, their lives were undoubtedly better before capture and their ancestors’ lives were better for generations upon generations prior to enslavement.
—Literary Hub, 12 Dec. 2025
At Rokeby, museum interpreters explain how the Robinson's ancestors had become wealthy in part due to the slave trade, but were abolitionists in later generations.
—Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 10 Nov. 2025
Kidnapped West and Central Africans brought these magical amulets to the Caribbean and the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade.
—Essence, 29 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for slave trade
Cite this Entry
“Slave trade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slave%20trade. Accessed 22 Dec. 2025.
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