Slave Trade / La Traite d'Esclaves

English: , Once the Portuguese made successful transatlantic trading voyages, other European nations quickly followed. In the eighteenth century, the port of Nantes became the busiest French port involved in the European slave trade to the Americas. It rivaled in importance the larger ports of Liverpool, England and Lisbon. Portugal. , Over 1,500 vessels from Nantes sailed to the coast of Africa to trade European goods for African slaves. The ships would stop along the West African coast, trading until their holds were filled with human cargo. Ocean voyages lasted from five to ten weeks. The Middle Passage, the long oceanic crossing from Africa to the Americas, was a scene of tragedy , approximately thirteen percent perished during the voyage, and attempts to revolt were bloody and usually unsuccessful., Most of the 400,000 Africans taken on Nantes’ slave ships were taken to the island of Saint Dominque, now known as Haiti. The ships were then loaded with valuable goods produced from the work of slaves, especially sugar. As with other slave-trading ports in Europe, the economy of Nantes grew wealthy on the backbreaking work of slaves.,