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

Recent Examples on the Web The twilight of the pirates was the dawn of the slave trade, American plantations, and Britain’s global empire. Daniel Immerwahr, The New Yorker, 15 July 2024 Years later James Madison, tacitly acknowledging that the American Union was a shotgun wedding, explained why the framers did not immediately abolish the slave trade in the U.S. Constitution. Eli Merritt, TIME, 4 July 2024 Liberian coffee was especially attractive to the American Free Produce movement, with its explicit mandate of using ethical commerce to undermine the global slave trade. Bronwen Everill, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 June 2024 The United Kingdom outlaws the slave trade, the United States emancipates its slaves, and Russia frees its serfs. Kevin Drum, Foreign Affairs, 14 June 2018 See all Example Sentences for slave trade 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'slave trade.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1701, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of slave trade was in 1701

Dictionary Entries Near slave trade

Cite this Entry

“Slave trade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slave%20trade. Accessed 26 Jul. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on slave trade

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