The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: A Database on CD-ROM

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: A Database on CD-ROM represents a compilation of data covering over 27,000 slave trade voyages from 1595 to 1866. This comprehensive database contains information about ship routes, cargo manifests, crew records, and mortality rates across the Middle Passage. The database emerged from decades of research across archives in Europe, Africa, and the Americas, standardizing information from fragmentary historical records. Users can analyze trends in slave ship capacity, voyage duration, points of embarkation and disembarkation, and demographic details of enslaved Africans. Statistical tools within the database enable researchers to generate tables, charts and maps examining patterns in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The CD-ROM format allows for complex queries and data sorting across multiple variables. This work stands as a vital resource for understanding the scale and mechanics of forced migration during the slave trade era. The database's structure provides a framework for examining both broad patterns and granular details of this historical period.

Readers note this CD-ROM database provides detailed records of nearly 35,000 slave trade voyages between Africa and the Americas. What readers liked: - Comprehensive data collection covering 400 years of records - User interface allows filtering by ship name, captain, origin/destination ports - Export capabilities for further analysis - Inclusion of previously unpublished archival materials What readers disliked: - Outdated CD-ROM format limits accessibility - Some reported technical compatibility issues with modern computers - Interface described as "clunky" by multiple reviewers - High cost relative to other academic resources Due to its specialized academic nature, this database has limited reviews on mainstream platforms: Amazon: No consumer reviews available Goodreads: Not listed H-Net Reviews: "An invaluable resource for scholars" but "technically challenging to use" Journal of American History Review: Praised for data breadth but criticized interface limitations The database has since been updated as a web-based resource at slavevoyages.org, which readers prefer for easier access.

The Atlantic Slave Trade by Herbert Klein This statistical study presents demographic data and analysis of slave transportation patterns across four centuries of the Atlantic trade.

Slave Ship: A Human History by Marcus Rediker The book reconstructs the social world of slave ships through records, letters, and ship logs from the 16th to 19th centuries.

Atlas of the Transatlantic Slave Trade by David Eltis This collection of maps and data visualizations tracks slave ship routes and documents the movement of 12.5 million people across the Atlantic.

The Slave Trade: The Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade: 1440-1870 by Hugh Thomas This comprehensive reference work chronicles the economics, politics, and mechanics of the slave trade through primary source documentation.

The Rise of African Slavery in the Americas by David Eltis The book uses demographic data and economic records to examine the transformation of African slavery into a large-scale commercial enterprise.

📚 The database documents over 35,000 individual slave trade voyages that occurred between 1514 and 1866. 🌍 The project represents decades of research across multiple countries and was one of the first major historical databases to be released on CD-ROM in 1999. ⚓ The data reveals that about 12.5 million Africans were shipped across the Atlantic, with only about 10.7 million surviving the journey. 🗺️ Author David Eltis and his team discovered that slave ships departed from over 60 different European ports, with Liverpool being the largest slave-trading port in the world. 📊 The database has become the foundation for hundreds of academic studies and continues to be updated through an online version called "Slave Voyages," which now includes information on intra-American slave trades and African names of enslaved people.