DVD: Transatlantic Slave Trade Special
FORMAT: MULTI-REGION What's this?
At the outset of the transatlantic slave trade in the 15th and 16th centuries, Africa was a melting pot of rich and diverse cultures. Africans produced precious goods and spices that attracted European traders to the west coast of Africa. But with the discovery of the New World, Europeans hungered for a different type of “cargo” – enslaved Africans.
In this Globe Trekker special, Megan Mc Cormick, Ian Wright, Justine Shapiro and Zoe Palmer take you on a journey across 4 continents to discover more about this terrible episode of history, which saw 12 million slaves taken out of Africa and 2 million killed. The journey begins in West Africa, visiting ports in Benin, Ghana, Senegal and the Cape Verde Islands from where slaves were shipped across the Atlantic. We follow their path to the Americas, with visits to sugar and cotton plantations formerly worked by slaves in Brazil, the United States, and the Caribbean. Next, we see the economic effects of the slave trade on Europe’s major cities, in particular London who’s most famous companies and institutions were founded and developed on the back of slavery before the successful campaign for the abolition of the slave trade. Finally, we visit the world’s most dazzling carnivals, in Rio de Janeiro, Trinidad and London to celebrate the cultural legacy of slave culture.
Click here for more information about this show.
At the outset of the transatlantic slave trade in the 15th and 16th centuries, Africa was a melting pot of rich and diverse cultures. Africans produced precious goods and spices that attracted European traders to the west coast of Africa. But with the discovery of the New World, Europeans hungered for a different type of “cargo” – enslaved Africans.
In this Globe Trekker special, Megan Mc Cormick, Ian Wright, Justine Shapiro and Zoe Palmer take you on a journey across 4 continents to discover more about this terrible episode of history, which saw 12 million slaves taken out of Africa and 2 million killed. The journey begins in West Africa, visiting ports in Benin, Ghana, Senegal and the Cape Verde Islands from where slaves were shipped across the Atlantic. We follow their path to the Americas, with visits to sugar and cotton plantations formerly worked by slaves in Brazil, the United States, and the Caribbean. Next, we see the economic effects of the slave trade on Europe’s major cities, in particular London who’s most famous companies and institutions were founded and developed on the back of slavery before the successful campaign for the abolition of the slave trade. Finally, we visit the world’s most dazzling carnivals, in Rio de Janeiro, Trinidad and London to celebrate the cultural legacy of slave culture.
Click here for more information about this show.
