--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Slave ships landed more than 1.5 million…" description: "\"“Slave ships landed more than 1.5 million African captives on British Caribbean islands (primarily Jamaica and Barbados) by the late 1700s and had brou..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d1/edward-e-baptist-26840_north-america_slave-ships-landed-more-than-1-5-million_2973258.jpg" --- # Slave ships landed more than 1.5 million African captives… ![“Slave ships landed more than 1.5 million African captives on British Caribbean islands (primarily Jamaica and Barbados) by the late 1700s and had brought more than 2 million to Brazil. In North America, however, the numbers of the enslaved grew, except in the most malarial lowlands of the Carolina…” quote by Edward E. Baptist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d1/edward-e-baptist-26840_north-america_slave-ships-landed-more-than-1-5-million_2973258.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d1/edward-e-baptist-26840_north-america_slave-ships-landed-more-than-1-5-million_2973258.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d1/edward-e-baptist-26840_north-america_slave-ships-landed-more-than-1-5-million_2973258.jpg) > ““Slave ships landed more than 1.5 million African captives on British Caribbean islands (primarily Jamaica and Barbados) by the late 1700s and had brought more than 2 million to Brazil. In North America, however, the numbers of the enslaved grew, except in the most malarial lowlands of the Carolina rice country. By 1775, 500,000 of the thirteen colonies’ 2.5 million inhabitants were slaves, about the same as the number of slaves then alive in the British Caribbean colonies. Slave labor was crucial to the North American colonies. Tobacco shipments from the”” [Edward E. Baptist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-e-baptist/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Enslaved Africans were central to colonial economies, with massive numbers transported to Caribbean and North America. **In simple terms:** Slavery powered colonial economies. Key Takeaway Recognize historical impact of slavery. Themes history economics human rights Mood somber educational Type historical analytical When to use this quote - education - policy discussions Key Concepts colonialism labor exploitation Questions to Reflect On - How does this history shape modern society? - What lessons apply today? A Different Perspective Numbers can be misinterpreted without context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Caribbean Colonies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caribbean-colonies-4588137/) [Colonies Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/colonies-slave-4588136/) [North america](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/north-america/) [Numbers Enslaved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/numbers-enslaved-4588138/) [Slave labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave-labor/) [Slave ships](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave-ships/) [Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) ## Related quotes > [His foreparents came to America in immigrant ships. My foreparents came to America in slave ships. But whatever the original ships, we are both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/his-foreparents-came-to-america-in-immigrant-ships-my-foreparents/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [Sacrifice and neon lights, Slaveships don't wait, Love many, trust few, And don't be late...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-morello/sacrifice-and-neon-lights-slaveships-don-t-wait-love-many-trust-few/) [Tom Morello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-morello/) > [Whether our ancestors came here on the Mayflower, on slave ships, whether they came to Ellis Island or LAX in Los Angeles, whether they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-clinton/whether-our-ancestors-came-here-on-the-mayflower-on-slave-ships/) [William J. Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-clinton/) > [I be off the slave ships, building pyramids, writing my own hieroglyphs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kendrick-lamar/i-be-off-the-slave-ships-building-pyramids-writing-my-own-hieroglyphs/) [Kendrick Lamar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kendrick-lamar/) > [Nobody had ever instructed him that a slave-ship, with a procession of expectant sharks in its wake, is a missionary institution, by which closely-packed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/nobody-had-ever-instructed-him-that-a-slave-ship-with-a-procession-of/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [In his fierce, bold determination to see the lives of modern-day slaves up close, Benjamin Skinner reminds me of the British abolitionist of two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-hochschild/in-his-fierce-bold-determination-to-see-the-lives-of-modern-day/) [Adam Hochschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-hochschild/) > [The Supreme Court said nothing about silliness, but I suspect it may play more of a role than one might suppose. People are, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/the-supreme-court-said-nothing-about-silliness-but-i-suspect-it-may/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [It's time for Black people to stop playing the separating game of geography, of where the slave ship put us down. We must concentrate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/it-s-time-for-black-people-to-stop-playing-the-separating-game-of/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [“PROGENY OF THE MIDDLE PASSAGE The leaky little tubs which the sea devours are the granddaughters of those slave ships. Today’s slaves, though no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/progeny-of-the-middle-passage-the-leaky-little-tubs-which-the-sea/) [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) > [The success of the abolitionist movement lay in its making real for people in Britain and America the slave ship's pervasive and utterly instrumental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-rediker/the-success-of-the-abolitionist-movement-lay-in-its-making-real-for/) [Marcus Rediker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-rediker/) > [The Islamic community today is faced with a new version of an old struggle. My late mother used to say it doesn't matter whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-moseley-braun/the-islamic-community-today-is-faced-with-a-new-version-of-an-old/) [Carol Moseley Braun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-moseley-braun/) > [Africans in the United States must remember that the slave ships brought no West Indians, no Caribbeans, no Jamaicans or Trinidadians or Barbadians to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/africans-in-the-united-states-must-remember-that-the-slave-ships/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/america-has-been-the-best-country-on-earth-for-black-folks-it-was/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [People can be slave-ships in shoes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zora-neale-hurston/people-can-be-slave-ships-in-shoes/) [Zora Neale Hurston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zora-neale-hurston/) > [The first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast was the sea, and a slave ship, which was then riding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olaudah-equiano/the-first-object-which-saluted-my-eyes-when-i-arrived-on-the-coast/) [Olaudah Equiano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olaudah-equiano/) ## More by Edward E. Baptist > [“few years after Ball was herded south, a slave trader marched a coffle past the US Capitol just as a gaggle of congressmen took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-e-baptist/few-years-after-ball-was-herded-south-a-slave-trader-marched-a-coffle/) [Edward E. Baptist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-e-baptist/) > [“American” women (and a few men) complained that here, wealthy white men sometimes lived with mulatto women until it came time to marry a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-e-baptist/american-women-and-a-few-men-complained-that-here-wealthy-white-men/) [Edward E. Baptist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-e-baptist/) > [“Enslaved African Americans built the modern United States, and indeed the entire modern world, in ways both obvious and hidden.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-e-baptist/enslaved-african-americans-built-the-modern-united-states-and-indeed/) [Edward E. Baptist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-e-baptist/) > [“Within half a century after Butler sent Charles Mallory away from Fortress Monroe empty-handed, the children of white Union and Confederate soldiers united against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-e-baptist/within-half-a-century-after-butler-sent-charles-mallory-away-from/) [Edward E. Baptist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-e-baptist/) > [“The returns from cotton monopoly powered the modernization of the rest of the American economy, and by the time of the Civil War, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-e-baptist/the-returns-from-cotton-monopoly-powered-the-modernization-of-the/) [Edward E. Baptist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-e-baptist/) > [“Chains enabled another kind of violence to be done as well. Chains saved whites from worrying about placating this one’s mother, or buying that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-e-baptist/chains-enabled-another-kind-of-violence-to-be-done-as-well-chains/) [Edward E. Baptist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-e-baptist/) > [“Once all the gold and silver had been thoroughly stolen, the empires found even greater sources of wealth by laying a belt of plantation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-e-baptist/once-all-the-gold-and-silver-had-been-thoroughly-stolen-the-empires/) [Edward E. Baptist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-e-baptist/) > [“One night at a tavern in Virginia’s Greenbrier County, a traveler watched as a group of traders put a coffle of people in one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-e-baptist/one-night-at-a-tavern-in-virginia-s-greenbrier-county-a-traveler/) [Edward E. Baptist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-e-baptist/) > [“Many whites, now proclaiming that science proved that people of African descent were intellectually inferior and congenitally prone to criminal behavior, looked wistfully to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-e-baptist/many-whites-now-proclaiming-that-science-proved-that-people-of/) [Edward E. Baptist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-e-baptist/) > [“But he forgot to close a lock one night, and as a newspaper reported, “the negroes rose and cut the throat of Mr. Speers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-e-baptist/but-he-forgot-to-close-a-lock-one-night-and-as-a-newspaper-reported/) [Edward E. Baptist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-e-baptist/) > [“by the 1840s the North had built a complex, industrialized economy on the backs of enslaved people and their highly profitable cotton labor. Yet,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-e-baptist/by-the-1840s-the-north-had-built-a-complex-industrialized-economy-on/) [Edward E. Baptist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-e-baptist/) > [“Heroes deal out vengeance, wiping out insults, and in an existential sense denying their own death. In twentieth-century camps, however, Todorov found, some people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-e-baptist/heroes-deal-out-vengeance-wiping-out-insults-and-in-an-existential/) [Edward E. Baptist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-e-baptist/) > [“The idea that the commodification and suffering and forced labor of African Americans is what made the United States powerful and rich is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-e-baptist/the-idea-that-the-commodification-and-suffering-and-forced-labor-of/) [Edward E. Baptist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-e-baptist/) > [“Even today, most US history textbooks tell the story of the Louisiana Purchase without admitting that slave revolution in Saint-Domingue made it possible. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-e-baptist/even-today-most-us-history-textbooks-tell-the-story-of-the-louisiana/) [Edward E. Baptist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-e-baptist/) > [“The next day, as they walked, a stranger rode up, matching the Georgia-man’s pace. “Niggers for sale?” He wanted to buy two women. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-e-baptist/the-next-day-as-they-walked-a-stranger-rode-up-matching-the-georgia/) [Edward E. Baptist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-e-baptist/) [Explore all 21 Edward E. Baptist quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-e-baptist/) ## More North america quotes > [In sum, as we enter the 21st century, the Euro-Atlantic community - North America and Europe together - has to face some tough challenges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-robertson/in-sum-as-we-enter-the-21st-century-the-euro-atlantic-community-north/) [Lord Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-robertson/) > [“As healthy and viable populations of wild animals, wolves were gone from most of eastern North America long before the death of the last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-hampton/as-healthy-and-viable-populations-of-wild-animals-wolves-were-gone/) [Bruce Hampton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-hampton/) > [So-called Western Civilization, as practised in half of Europe, some of Asia and a few parts of North America, is better than anything else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/so-called-western-civilization-as-practised-in-half-of-europe-some-of/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [In North America and Western Europe, ten percent of the population of the world consumes fifty percent of its energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-levi/in-north-america-and-western-europe-ten-percent-of-the-population-of/) [Yehuda Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-levi/) > [Currently intellectuals in Western Europe and North America are extremely demoralized and shaken by the rise of a virulent conservative tendency (which some have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/currently-intellectuals-in-western-europe-and-north-america-are/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Scotland's political identity was destroyed, and a huge Scottish emigration to North America followed the brutal Highland clearances. These included every layer of Scottish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ali/scotland-s-political-identity-was-destroyed-and-a-huge-scottish/) [Tariq Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ali/) > [“Soon you catch your first glimpse of a vineyard basking in the sun, its broad leaves silently turning sunlight into sugar, ripening vitis vinifera,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-taylor-starwood/soon-you-catch-your-first-glimpse-of-a-vineyard-basking-in-the-sun/) [Jane Taylor Starwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-taylor-starwood/) > [The president of the United States of North America, George W. Bush, the little gentleman of the North, the political cadaver that is visiting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugo-chavez/the-president-of-the-united-states-of-north-america-george-w-bush-the/) [Hugo Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugo-chavez/) > [The undisturbed coastal plain is home to a wide variety of plants and animals and is the only wilderness sanctuary in North America that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-lipinski/the-undisturbed-coastal-plain-is-home-to-a-wide-variety-of-plants-and/) [Dan Lipinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-lipinski/) > [There are lots of places I would love to go to in Europe and North America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nasser-hussain/there-are-lots-of-places-i-would-love-to-go-to-in-europe-and-north/) [Nasser Hussain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nasser-hussain/) > [Land. If you understand nothing else about the history of Indians in North America, you need to understand that the question that really matters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-king/land-if-you-understand-nothing-else-about-the-history-of-indians-in/) [Thomas King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-king/) > [“Hoping to create a little prestige, some retailers develop and advertise premium clothes sub-brands. In 2006, Myer, one of Australia’s largest retailers, launched a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-thain/hoping-to-create-a-little-prestige-some-retailers-develop-and/) [Greg Thain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-thain/) > [If you think about the history of mobile handsets, in many respects there was a time when Asia and then Europe all led North…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-elop/if-you-think-about-the-history-of-mobile-handsets-in-many-respects/) [Stephen Elop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-elop/) > [We have a big opportunity in China. We think the number of stores here can rival the number in North America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-schultz/we-have-a-big-opportunity-in-china-we-think-the-number-of-stores-here/) [Howard Schultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-schultz/) > [We've set up groups in schools across North America. They apply and receive a curriculum about different issues facing the world - from environment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-kielburger/we-ve-set-up-groups-in-schools-across-north-america-they-apply-and/) [Craig Kielburger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-kielburger/) [Browse all 425 North america quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/north-america/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Slave ships landed more than 1.5 million African captives on British Caribbean islands (primarily Jamaica and Barbados) by the late 1700s and had brought more than 2 million to Brazil. 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