International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade 2023: Date, History, Facts about The Slave Trade

The 25th of March is International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. In 2008, it was observed for the first occasion. The day honors and remembers the more than 15 million people who were brutalized by a slave system for more than 400 years. During the transatlantic slave trade, the Panamanian port city of Portobelo was a crucial entry point for enslaved Africans who would be transported to various destinations if they survived the perilous ocean voyages. In various forms, slavery still exists today despite its abolition.

The background of International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade

The transatlantic slave trade was the world’s largest and one of the cruelest coerced migrations. Over the course of 400 years, a colossal exodus of Africans spread across the globe in a manner that had never been witnessed or documented by humankind. Four times as many Africans as Europeans crossed the Atlantic between 1501 and 1830, rendering the American population more of an extension of Africa than of Europe.

Between the 16th and 19th centuries, approximately 15 to 20 million Africans were transported against their will to Central, South, and North America, as well as Europe. Between Europe, the Americas, and West Africa, the transatlantic slave traffic was a lucrative triangular trade. It laid the groundwork for the majority of Britain’s prosperity. In various slave trading systems, men, women, and children were transferred as slaves. During the journeys, up to 2.4 million slaves perished, and millions more perished shortly thereafter. Slaves were sold as servants on plantations, mines, and paddy fields.

Britain was the first nation to outlaw the slave trade in 1807, and by 1815, the British had convinced the Netherlands, Spain, France, and Portugal to do the same. Nearly five years later, in 1820, the United States deemed slave trading illegal, and it was eventually outlawed in 1865.

International Day for the Abolition of Slavery 2022: Theme, Date and History

5 IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT THE SLAVE TRADE

The trip from Africa to America took roughly seven weeks.

The Atlantic slave traffic began in the 1440s.

African slaves were transported to Portugal and Atlantic islands such as Madeira to work in agriculture.

The Portuguese were the first to engage in the slave trade and reap enormous profits from it.

Approximately forty percent of slaves were from West-Central Africa.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF REMEMBRANCE OF THE VICTIMS OF SLAVERY AND THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE DATES

Year	Date	Day
2023	March 25	Saturday
2024	March 25	Monday
2025	March 25	Tuesday
2026	March 25	Wednesday
2027	March 25	Thursday