HistoryBritain in a wider world28 min★★★ difficulty

A world issue: the transatlantic slave trade

For over three centuries, ships carried millions of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic — a system that connected three continents.

Part of your national curriculum

Wider world history: Understand at least one study of a significant society or issue in world history and its interconnections with other world developments

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Understand at least one study of a significant society or issue in world history and its interconnections with other world developments

Key learning points

• The triangular trade
• Scale and suffering
• Resistance and abolition
• Lasting interconnections

This lesson at a glance

28 minutes
24 parts to scroll through
3 quick checks
Marked quiz at the end
Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

significantsocietyhistoryinterconnectionsdevelopments

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Part 1 of 24 · Discover4%

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Part 1 of 24

A world issue: the transatlantic slave trade illustration

Visual introduction

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A world issue: the transatlantic slave trade

For over three centuries, ships carried millions of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic — a system that connected three continents.

In a nutshell

Understand at least one study of a significant society or issue in world history and its interconnections with other world developments

What you already know

Part 2 of 24

Before we start

What you already know

You should already know that Britain traded across the Atlantic, and that empires connected distant parts of the world.

Recap: Britain, trade and transatlantic slavery

Key words

Part 3 of 24

Key words

Words you'll need today

Interconnection: The way events in one place shaped lives in another.
Chattel slavery: A system treating people as property that could be bought and sold.
Diaspora: Communities formed by people scattered from their homelands.
Legacy: Effects that continue long after events end.

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Part 4 of 24

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Learning cycle

Part 5 of 24

Learning cycle 1 of 2

The system and its scale

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 24

Learn

The triangular trade

European ships carried manufactured goods to West Africa, exchanged them for enslaved people, transported them across the Atlantic on the horrific 'Middle Passage', then carried sugar, cotton and tobacco back to Europe. This became known as the triangular trade.

Explore the idea

Part 7 of 24

Learn

Scale and suffering

Historians estimate that over 12 million enslaved Africans were transported between the 1500s and 1800s, with a significant proportion dying during the brutal crossing. Enslaved people endured forced labour, mainly on plantations in the Americas and Caribbean.

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Part 8 of 24

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Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

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Quick check

Part 9 of 24

Quick check

What was the 'triangular trade'?

Give me a hint

Quick check

Part 10 of 24

Quick check

When did Britain pass the Slavery Abolition Act?

Give me a hint

Learning cycle

Part 11 of 24

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Resistance and legacy

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

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Part 12 of 24

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Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

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Explore the idea

Part 13 of 24

Learn

Resistance and abolition

Enslaved people resisted through rebellions, such as the successful Haitian Revolution beginning in 1791. In Britain, campaigners including Olaudah Equiano and William Wilberforce pushed for abolition, achieved in stages with the Slave Trade Act of 1807 and the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833.

Explore the idea

Part 14 of 24

Learn

Lasting interconnections

The wealth generated funded British ports and industries, while the trade's legacy shaped modern populations, cultures and inequalities across Africa, the Americas and Europe. Studying it shows how deeply connected world regions had become centuries ago.

Quick check

Part 15 of 24

Quick check

Who led the successful Haitian Revolution beginning in 1791?

Give me a hint

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Part 16 of 24

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Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

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Common mix-ups

Part 17 of 24

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

People often treat this as only American history. Britain was central to the trade and its profits.
People often think the story ends with abolition. Its legacies shape societies today.

Challenge round

Part 18 of 24

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

Challenge round

Part 19 of 24

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

Historians estimate that over 12 million enslaved Africans were transported between the 1500s and 1800s, with a ____ proportion dying during the brutal crossing.

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Part 20 of 24

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Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now

Challenge round

Part 21 of 24

Game · Recall cards

What was the 'triangular trade'?

Card 1 of 3

Exit quiz

Part 22 of 24

Exit quiz

Show what you've learned

6 questions, marked together at the end. Nothing is timed.

1. Chattel slavery means people were…
2. Around how many Africans were forcibly transported across the Atlantic?
3. Resistance took forms including…
4. Britain's role in the trade was…
5. A legacy of the trade is…
6. Studying this as a world issue shows how…

Mastery quiz

Part 23 of 24

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: A world issue: the transatlantic slave trade

3 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

1. What was the 'triangular trade'?
2. When did Britain pass the Slavery Abolition Act?
3. Who led the successful Haitian Revolution beginning in 1791?

Lesson round-up

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Lesson round-up

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Understand at least one study of a significant society or issue in world history and its interconnections with other world developments