slave trade
noun
: trafficking of enslaved people
especially, in U.S. history
: the business or practice of capturing, transporting, selling, and buying enslaved African people for profit prior to the American Civil War
Examples of slave trade in a Sentence
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Indeed, the halftime show’s setting in a sugarcane field highlights the sugar and rum production in the Caribbean, industries at the heart of the Colonial systems and slave trade that shaped our history.
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Lara N. Dotson-Renta, Chicago Tribune, 13 Feb. 2026
Others have theorized that Heathcliff is Black, pointing to Liverpool’s history as a port city central to Britain’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade.
—Natasha O'Neill, Vanity Fair, 13 Feb. 2026
Although the transatlantic slave trade was abolished in 1807, slavery in America existed throughout Brontë’s life, and was eventually abolished in 1865, 17 years after her death.
—Arushi Jacob, Variety, 13 Feb. 2026
The Compromise allowed for California’s entry into the Union as a free state, and outlawed the slave trade (but not slavery itself) in the District of Columbia.
—Jelani Cobb, New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2026
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Lara N. Dotson-Renta, Chicago Tribune, 13 Feb. 2026
Others have theorized that Heathcliff is Black, pointing to Liverpool’s history as a port city central to Britain’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade.
—Natasha O'Neill, Vanity Fair, 13 Feb. 2026
Although the transatlantic slave trade was abolished in 1807, slavery in America existed throughout Brontë’s life, and was eventually abolished in 1865, 17 years after her death.
—Arushi Jacob, Variety, 13 Feb. 2026
The Compromise allowed for California’s entry into the Union as a free state, and outlawed the slave trade (but not slavery itself) in the District of Columbia.
—Jelani Cobb, New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for slave trade
Cite this Entry
“Slave trade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slave%20trade. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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