The transatlantic slave trade was a brutal system that transported millions of enslaved Africans to the Americas from the 16th to the 19th centuries. European traders would capture or buy enslaved people in Africa and then ship them across the Atlantic Ocean under horrific conditions. Many did not survive the journey, known as the Middle Passage, due to overcrowding, disease, and malnutrition. Once in the Americas, enslaved individuals were forced to work on plantations, producing crops like sugar, tobacco, and cotton. This trade was driven by the demand for cheap labor and had devastating effects on African communities, leading to loss of life, culture, and family ties.