A phenomenon that stimulated much of the world economy between the 16th and 19th centuries was the transatlantic slave trade. The transatlantic slave trade consisted of European nations transporting slaves from the West African coast to European colonies in the Americas. A question often asked is: why were the people of the African continent chosen to be slaves in the New World? Africans were chosen as slaves because of their availability, productivity, and relatively cheap cost. European plantation owners believed that Africans were the most productive at manual labor and the most resistant to disease.1 However, before slaves could be transported, Africans had to be kidnapped, captured, or sold to their various ethnic groups on the African continent. Every European slave nation established contact with African slave traders in Africa, particularly in areas called the Gold Coast and Slave Coast. Through these men, Europeans were able to acquire Africans.2 A powerful drawing is that of an unknown artist, drawn before 1878, which illustrates African men, women and children being driven, presumably to the west coast of Africa, to be sold to European slavers. .3 In the illustration entitled Slave Convoy in Africa, African slavers are shown wearing traditional African clothing while brandishing European rifles to protect and maintain their slave convoy. Additionally, a slaver is shown executing an unruly slave. Observing the image, we realize that it is drawn in such a way that the convoy of slaves fades into the horizon, seemingly without end. This particularly highlights the long road that the abolitionist movement must travel or has traveled, depending on when the artist completed his work. After Africans were captured... middle of article......: Census delves deeper into West Africa's slavery-era estimates to allow researchers to understand African numbers and Europeans involved in the capture. industry. Perhaps the most useful source I encountered was Trading Souls, in which the Beckles and Sheperd use charts, maps, and illustrations as well as primary sources. Specifically, in the chapter devoted to the financial and commercial organization of the slave trade, the authors include contemporary photographs of various slave strongholds, a map detailing the specific routes taken by slavers from West Africa to in the West Indies and a map detailing Spanish exports. slaves from Africa between 1595 and 1640. 34 In conclusion, the most successful sources were those in which the authors were able to establish an organized chronology and include numerical evidence to support their arguments..