slave-trade
Definition
- Noun:
- The trafficking of human beings as property: "slave-trade" refers to the historical and illegal practice of capturing, buying, selling, and transporting people who are forced into servitude. This term specifically denotes the commercial exchange of enslaved individuals, often across regions or continents.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- The abolition of the slave-trade in the 19th century was a major humanitarian victory. (The end of the commercial exchange of enslaved people.)
- Historians study the slave-trade to understand its devastating impact on African societies. (The historical practice of trafficking humans as property.)
- Modern forms of the slave-trade persist in human trafficking networks today. (The contemporary illegal trade in people for forced labor.)
Advanced Usage
"the Atlantic slave-trade": the specific historical trade of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas.
- The Atlantic slave-trade lasted for over 300 years and involved millions of people. (The transatlantic commercial exchange of enslaved Africans.)
"to suppress the slave-trade": to take legal or military action to stop the trafficking of enslaved people.
- The British Royal Navy was instrumental in efforts to suppress the slave-trade. (To actively prevent the illegal trade.)
Variants and Related Words
Slave trader (n): a person who buys and sells enslaved people.
- The slave trader operated a ship that transported captives from West Africa. (A merchant involved in the slave-trade.)
Slave trading (n): the act or business of engaging in the slave-trade.
- Slave trading was outlawed in most countries by the 19th century. (The practice of trafficking enslaved people.)
Synonyms
- Human trafficking: the illegal trade of people for forced labor or sexual exploitation.
- Enslavement: the act of making someone a slave.
Related Idioms
- "the triangle of the slave-trade": refers to the triangular route used in the Atlantic slave-trade, where goods were traded for enslaved people in Africa, who were then transported to the Americas.
- The triangle of the slave-trade connected Europe, Africa, and the Americas in a brutal economic system. (The three-part route of the historical slave-trade.)