A group of divers are determined to discover the shipwrecks of various slave ships and document the history of their ancestors.
The slaves were part of a triangular trade between Europe, Africa and the Americas, where European goods where transported to Africa and exchanged for slaves, the slaves where then transported to the Americas on what become known as the “Middle Passage,” and sold for raw materials and other resources, which where then brought back to Europe.
Over the centuries, it is estimated that 12.5 million people were transported from Africa to the Americas, on thousands of journeys, with each slave ship carrying up to 600 individuals. Over the years 12,000 ships are estimated to have been involved in the slave trade.
The explorers investigate the wrecks to not only document them but also to tell the human story of the journey from Africa to the Americas.
You can check out this fascinating National Geographic documentary below or learn more at nationalgeographic.com.
