In 1619, 400 years ago, the Dutch boat White Lion docked on the coasts of the United States, more precisely in Virginia in the city of Jamestown. The Dutch had captured the precious cargo, which they would have exchanged on American land for food and supplies, during a naval battle with the Spaniards They had won 20 Africans, previously enslaved to the Spaniards, who would work as contract servants for a certain period of time, before being released and obtaining a piece of land – mostly infertile – to cultivate.

This event gradually led to the trafficking of African men and women known as the Atlantic trade. Initially contract servants, as well as the Irish, Scots, British and Germans who paid for their crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by serving in the same way, they would soon become human commodities, indelibly marking history.

Collection: Images, Multimedia, Texts

Project: 9. Travels and travelers: economic, social and cultural connections.

Chronology: Modern age to contemporary

Scope: Secondary Education, Higher Education

Link: https://ilbolive.unipd.it/it/news/tratte-schiavi-dallafrica-subsahariana-allafrica

Resource type: Image, Video

Format: Images|Multimedia|Texts

Source: https://ilbolive.unipd.it/it/news/tratte-schiavi-dallafrica-subsahariana-allafrica

Language: Italian

Date: 1619-1900

Owner: Beatrice Borghi (Modernalia)

Copyright: University of Padova

Abstract: The Atlantic passage.

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