The Role of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in Contemporary Anti-Trafficking Discourse

Transatlantic slavery was a centuries-long international trade in people and their labor, spanning from the early 1500s to the 1880s. Since the end of transatlantic slavery in 1888, nation-states and international institutions have legally recognized and been committed to protecting the fundamental rights of human beings. In light of these promised protections, resurgence in the enslavement of human beings would seem impossible. However, that resurgence has been documented worldwide in the form of human trafficking. Indeed, an analysis of the economic roots and structure of the two forms of exploitation reveals that modern trafficking in human beings is as interconnected with, and central to, contemporary domestic and global economies as the transatlantic trade and slavery were to their contemporaneous economic systems. This article examines some uses of the transatlantic slave trade in modern anti-human trafficking efforts and discourse as well as the impact of those uses. In addition, this article identifies the role of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century efforts against white slavery in the modern discourse. While references to transatlantic slavery are used to frame the discourse of modern trafficking, it is the fight against white slavery, rather than the transatlantic slave trade, to which the typical modern trafficking combatant owes her intellectual debts. Even more, the focus of late nineteenth and early twentieth century activists on sex and the protection of women continues to limit understanding of the fundamental similarities among the transatlantic slave trade, white slavery, and contemporary trafficking in humans. Analysis of the transatlantic slave trade and of white slavery offers a richer understanding of human trafficking, an understanding that may be used to combat modem trafficking in humans more effectively than current efforts. Part II provides an overview of human trafficking, including the responses of the United States and the international community. Part III examines the uses made of the transatlantic slave trade in contemporary anti-trafficking discourse and efforts. Part IV discusses the ways in which white slavery frames the perceptions of and responses to human trafficking. Part V concludes that these two forms of exploitation could play more meaningful roles in current efforts against human trafficking. For example, by identifying similarities in the economic roles of these forms of exploitation and analyzing the effectiveness of various abolitionist tactics. I conclude that, to be successful, anti-trafficking efforts should target the economic incentives and structures that facilitate the trade in human beings