Africa: the transatlantic slave trade Slavery was virtually a universal institution in countries around the world for thousands of years It is safe to say that in the popular imagination slavery is seen as an evil, racist system that was imposed on Africans by Europeans. Images of a ravaged African hinterland and uprooted communities are readily lined up to conjure a picture of a passive, peaceful people dragged off screaming into a nightmare not of their making. In all probability such imagery is due to an understanding of slavery that limits itself only to the forcible sale of Africans to…
