The Atlantic slave trade began in the late 1400's with

The Atlantic slave trade began in the late 1400s with Portugal, and consequently, when other European kingdoms expanded overseas and reached Africa. The beginning of the Atlantic slave trade in the late 1400s interrupted the African societal structures as Europeans penetrated into the West African coastline, drawing people from the interior of the continent to sell them into slavery. Its estimated that between 9.4 million and 14 million slaves were sold.