The story of the transatlantic slave trade is an epic and complex one, which shaped many aspects of the modern world. Yet the slave trade – as distinct from the experience of slavery in the United States – remains largely unknown to the general public. The Slave Trade: Creating a New World will be a major media effort to make this critical history accessible to a popular American audience. The documentary, directed by Stanley Nelson, will capture the story of the people behind the trade: the monarchs who financed it, the Africans who sold others or were themselves sold as property and the abolitionists who fought against it. I am one of the scholars who helped identifying new and/or reinterpreted key characters, relationships and events to shape the narrative and personalize aspects of the slave trade and the history of Europe.
